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In November 2023, the winds of change blew through Hong Kong – at least as far as the career of Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir was concerned. The Mongolian director saw her first feature film, , depart the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival with both the young jury best film and new talent awards. The Venice International Film Festival, the world’s oldest, had hosted its world premiere two months earlier, where received a best film nomination.

Another prestigious stop was Hollywood, where it was Mongolia’s entry at this year’s Oscars. The film has also been shown at festivals in Osaka (where it took best film honours at the Asian Film Festival in March), Busan, Marrakech, Toronto and elsewhere, making it a powerful calling card for an emerging director and her streaming dreams. Purev-Ochir, 35, with a master’s in screenwriting, was also the writer of an awards-laden string of short films that preceded her debut feature.



And it is back to the shorter form now, following her participation in the recent International Film Camp at Sands China, Macau, run by the Asian Film Awards Academy (AFAA). Purev-Ochir was one of eight filmmakers each awarded HK$300,000 (US$38,400) to make the movies they pitched to the academy. “The film is called ,” she says, during a video call from her home in Portugal.

“Shooting starts in July and we’re now in pre-production, casting and putting the crew together.” The AFAA will continue to help develop the film, which, like previous projects (s.

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