It is a bond familiar to those in the Middle East - one that a man shares with his cherished hunting bird of prey.
Filmmaker Joseph Spaid, who spent some time in Mongolia, witnessed a similar relationship
between a Kazakh ?eagle master' and his bird. The result: Kiran Over Mongolia, a documentary that will be screened at the Dubai International Film Festival later this month
In a land whose name conjures up images of fierce warriors on horseback and barren, windswept land, one of the largest and most powerful raptors join forces with skilled Kazakh nomads to hunt foxes, rabbits, even wolves and lynx.
Californian film-maker Joseph Spaid took his camera and production team to the remote mountainous region of western Mongolia to capture the tradition of these eagle hunters.
His documentary, Kiran Over Mongolia, is scheduled to be screened at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) this month.
The image of an Arab with a falcon is one of the staples of tourism in the Middle East. But the practice of hunting with wild birds of prey is thought to predate Arabic and European falconry. Some researchers say it has its roots in the nomadic tribes of Central Asia and dates back to more than 6,000 years.
Stories of Genghis Khan refer to an elite regiment of falconers. The famed explorer Marco Polo too has documented extravagant expeditions held by the Khan's grandson, Kublai, where falcons were used in hunting animals.
One of the world's largest predatory birds, the golden eagle has a wingspan of 1.5 to 2.5 metres, an average weight of 5 kg, and an average length of 1 metre.
Like other birds of prey, the golden eagle has a sharp, hooked beak for tearing flesh and strong, sharp talons to seize its prey. What is most impressive, however, is its hunting prowess. A golden eagle on the hunt can dive at speeds of up to 280 km per hour.
In recent years, the tradition of the eagle masters of Mongolia has grabbed the attention of lovers of action and adventure around the world. An increasing number of tourists are queuing up to join organised expeditions, usually held in the freezing winters, to see one of nature's rarest partnerships in action.
Kiran Over Mongolia follows a young Kazakh man who dreams of following in his grandfather's footsteps as an eagle master. He journeys to the mountains and under the tutelage of an eagle master named Khairatkhan, learns the art of trapping, training and hunting with eagles.
Along the way, he also learns the traditions of his own people. Friday meets Joseph Spaid, the director of the documentary, to find out more about his experiences filming the hunters in Mongolia. Excerpts from the interview:
How did this film come about? How did you hear about it and why did you want to get involved with this project?
Between 1999 and 2000, I was on a year-long trip to 20 countries. In Mongolia, I headed out to the most remote corner of the country, which is populated predominantly by Kazakhs.
At the time, I had never heard of people who hunted with eagles. When we came up over a rise, there I found two men on horseback. (They looked as if they were straight out of history books. They were attired in leather, wood, wool and sported horsehair ropes.)
When they took us to a man with an eagle, I thought to myself,' This is clearly my next film, and it's set in the most remote corner of the already remote Mongolia!'
What value does this tradition have for a modern-day audience used to special effects, pop fiction, computer-generated animals and such?
Audiences have responded very enthusiastically to the ?sense of place' in Kiran, as well as a feeling of authenticity that seems to be derived from a film that unfolds at a nomad's pace.
A great deal of effort was focused on documenting local rural music and cultural pastimes, and audiences seem to (have enjoyed) a world completely foreign to them.
Many people have come up to me after screenings and said,' Thank you for showing me a completely different world - one I didn't even know existed'.
As a film-maker, one of my goals is to transport places, cultures and ways of life to people who ? have not (visited) the region the film is exploring. One of the mandates of Kiran was to tell the story and culture of the Kazakh eagle masters of the Altai organically without the presence of a host ?guiding' us through episodes.
By letting the subjects speak (unscripted) and interact, viewers get an extremely intimate, natural, local portrait of people living entirely off the land in an ancient, nearly forgotten way.
I think access to such a lifestyle is extremely important to viewers, who are increasingly reliant on the trappings of a technologically-oriented life, because it returns us to the fundamentals of humanity, to the things all human beings have in common.
There is a wisdom in ancient human ways and those lessons are timeless. I would like to think
that Kiran (opens a door) to that wisdom.
Why are you keen to have this film shown in Dubai?
You're probably aware, there's a rich tradition of falconry in the UAE and the region.
There are many parallels between Middle Eastern falconry and the Kazakh tradition of hunting with eagles. Many of the tools used in both sports are the same, such as hood, jesses (leg straps) and perches.
The primary difference is the scale and sturdiness of the birds. Eagles are huge animals and are not the least bit delicate. Falcons are delicate birds requiring the use of only a light leather glove to handle, whereas the eagle requires a full gauntlet to manage.
The game varies as well. Where falcons are sleek birds with stiff, tapered wings adapted to diving at astonishingly high speeds, the eagle is a soaring bird with long, wide wings. Falcons excel at grabbing prey on the wing, so their primary quarry are other birds.
Eagles tend to spot (mammals) with their exceptionally keen eyesight, and then drop on them from a great height.
Falcons often kill their prey with their first high velocity blow, whereas eagles generally use their powerful talons, which can generate 2,500 psi, to crush their prey on the ground.
It is the differing geography of the desert Arabian Peninsula and the steppes of Mongolia that dictates the birds used to hunt. Primary quarry in Mongolia are fur-bearing animals such as fox, wolf, lynx and rabbit. Falcons are not large enough to hunt these animals.
Are there parallels between the two traditions in terms of hunting and trapping styles, preferred bait and so on?
In addition to their love of the sport, tradition and nature, eagle hunters fly their birds for fur.
The fur of foxes, wolves and lynxes they pursue is valuable in two ways. First, (it provides) warmth and clothing. Second, (furs can generate) income.
Eagle hunters often live in such remote locations that they survive essentially outside of an economy. Selling fur pelts is a way to generate at least some hard currency to buy necessities in a regional market.
Kazakh eagle masters hunt with only trapped wild adult birds; these are known as 'passage' birds. Fledgeling eagles taken from the nest have the nasty habit of imprinting on human beings rather than their eagle parents.
Having a creature that can generate 2,500 psi (when it squeezes) its powerful talons, thinking you are its mother, can be a very dangerous prospect, indeed.
Also, passage birds have learned hunting from the best school there is - nature. So they are the preferred birds of Kazakh eagle masters.
Who is an eagle master?
An eagle master is one who has the skills to trap, (train) and successfully hunt with wild ?passage' eagles. (If it were a falcon), we would say master falconer.
However, the word 'eagler' doesn't exist in English, so we referred to the film protagonist's teacher, Kairatkhan, as an eagle master. And he certainly lives up to the title.
Do the eagle masters set the birds free at the end of every season as the Bedouin traditionally did?
No, the birds are kept for seven years before being released. Several seasons of solid training and hunting are required to develop a quality, calm, kiran bird.
With each season, the bond between master and eagle becomes stronger. The hunter learns how to stroke his bird so that she will relax, how to loosen her toes so she will not crush his arm, when to remove her hood, and when, what, and how much to feed her to keep her in optimum hunting condition.
What were some of your memorable experiences of filming in Mongolia?
At one point, Kairatkhan's eagle flew one, maybe two kilometres up into the sky. All of us, Kairatkhan included, were afraid that his beloved bird would fly off.
But after she soared for about 15 minutes, she gently descended and landed right on Kairatkhan's arm. That bird was free to go if she desired, but she chose to return to Kairatkhan's arm, and (to a) life with him. It was pure magic.
One of the most daunting aspects of making this film was getting the footage translated. The dialect of Kazakh spoken by the eagle hunters in western Mongolia is so colloquial that I could not find anyone in North America who could speak it. I had to return to Mongolia the following summer just to translate the footage.
The weather was also a challenge. Most eagle hunting takes place in the winter, when the fox fur and other pelts are at their thickest.
So, much of the shooting took place during late October when temperatures in Mongolia regularly go below -20ÞC.
Our crew quickly discovered that while (modern day) down sleeping bags are OK in those conditions, the locals know best.
A clove of diced raw garlic blanched in a cup of mutton broth just before bedtime, and a fox pelt around your feet at night make all the difference.
Not enough can be said of the nomads' sense of hospitality. The typical greeting is, "It's lucky that you arrived right now as we were just getting ready to make tea." Everywhere we went we were welcomed with whatever the nomads had to offer: butter tea, fresh dough cookies, music and stories.
And when we (were about to leave, we were always asked) the traditional question, "Aren't you staying the night?"
