Member review

The eagle huntress is a documentary produced for Sony Pictures Classics in 2016 that follows a 13-year-old Mongolian girl called Aisholpan as she strives to be the first female eagle hunter. Directed by Otto Bell and Narrated by Daisy Ridley, most famously known for playing in 3 Star Wars films.

I can see why it was nominated for the BAFTA award for best documentary, as the cinematography was outstanding to observe, and the perspectives were well planned out. The Eagle Huntress is unique compared to most other films; most films are forced to use CGI for animal scenes, however in this specific documentary they used real eagles and animals.

Aisholpan wants to become the first eagle huntress, it seems as if she would be the first female to hunt with an eagle, so most experienced eagle hunters disagree with her dream. Hunting with eagles may look easy and fun at first, but there are many more challenges: there would be snowstorms, thick snow, landslides and more, and besides all of that, it proves challenging to obtain your eagle anyway. You need to find one at a nest while the clock ticks away until the eagle mother comes back. With ALL these challenges, will Aisholpan be able to endure to find eagle prey? Let alone capture an eagle hatchling.

Although this documentary may seem appetizing, not everything is accurate, there have been females hunting with eagles before, and Mongolia has a good record of gender equality. The documentary, however, is slightly soured when it shows the other competitors were very negative to having a girl in the competition. Maybe Aisholpan will be able to change this for her community.

Despite its high inaccuracy, it has an amazing story with amazing morals, there is a small amount of gore when the eagle is eating, but you do not see any blood, just meat.