Germany

93′13″, 2024

DIRECTED BY

Iris Pakulla

PRODUCED BY

Eva Fouquet, Beetz Brothers

SCRIPTWRITER

Iris Pakulla

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Iván Castiñeiras

EDITED BY

Christian R. Timmann

Angry Spirits highlights a global challenge in a poetic manner: the threat to indigenous peoples from environmental degradation and climate catastrophe. The film follows the search for healing of Ainur (32) a former nomad and young mother living as a dancer in a strip club in the modern capital Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. She has the feeling that evil spirits are taking possession of her and follows the shaman's advice and returns to the land of her clan: the Gobi Desert. There she is confronted with the destruction of this once breathtaking landscape by one of the largest copper and gоld mines in the world and climate change.

 

Iris Pakulla is a writer and environmental anthropologist based in Berlin. With over a decade of experience as a producer and writer of documentaries in Germany and Spain, she recently made her feature directorial debut with ANGRY SPIRITS. She holds a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge, focusing on environmental health and extractivism in Mongolia. Her credits include directing I Swam Alone (2011), writing for Notes on Displacement and Commander Arian, and co-producing Gods of Molenbeek and The Queen of Silence. Her work has screened at international festivals, on TV, and in cinemas worldwide.