Two Horses of Genghis Khan

Outer Mongolia is a hauntingly beautiful place, its windswept steppes undisturbed for centuries by the passing of time. Urna is a singer of traditional music who is travelling to the farthest corners of her native land, searching among the steppe-dwellers for the lyrics to an ancient song that was inscribed on the horse-head violin left to her by her dying grandmother. Much of this precious instrument was lost during the purges of traditional music in the Cultural Revolution, and Urna promised that she'd restore it to its original beauty. This violin, the morin khuur, is considered to be a symbol of the fiercely independent nature of the Mongols, despite centuries of occupation. The instrument's poetic sound brings to mind a horse's neighing, or wind through the grass. THE TWO HORSES OF GENGHIS KHAN is a sumptuous, lyrical, and sometimes very funny piece of filmmaking, part documentary and part fiction. In the course of her journey to her country's past, Urna encounters everyone from yurt-dwellers and shamans to musicians and tourists, and she embraces all of them equally. (In Mongolian with subtitles) – B.B.