Avant-garde film festival showcases creativity of young Mongolian film-makers

Local news, 25.08.2015

Mongolia’s Golden Reel Association - a youth-led NGO promoting alternative cinema - held its annual avant-garde International Underground Film Festival in Ulaanbaatar in June 2015.

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Young artist Anunaran performs at the opening ceremony of the International Underground Film Festival, 2015, Ulaanbaatar © sdc

The festival provided a platform for aspiring young national and international filmmakers to experiment with alternative cinema and showcase their talents to the world.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) funded the 2015 festival as part of its cultural and arts grants, contributing to the development of Mongolia’s rich and diverse artistic and cultural heritage. 

The Golden Reel Association has been organising the avant-garde film festival for the past three years. This year, it expanded its horizons by inviting international filmmakers to take part in the event, attracting more than 200 submissions from 20 countries. 

Distinguished avant-garde cinema luminaries Peter Tscherkassky from Austria and Eve Heller from the US were on the jury, along with prominent Mongolian directors Byamba Sakhia and Jigjidsuren Gombojav, and Golden Reel Association Director Enkhbat Natsagdorj. 

Tscherkassky's new short film, The Exquisite Corpse, which was awarded a special prize at Cannes in 2015, inspired young Mongolian filmmakers during master classes on experimental filmmaking. 

Tscherkassky commended the Mongolian filmmakers' ability and accomplishments, and praised their efforts in creating a unique Mongolian cinematic identity by pushing the boundaries of conventional forms of filmmaking and fostering avant-garde and experimental films in Mongolia. 

Press release, 11.11.2015

ULAANBAATAR —The World Bank and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) today launched a US$3 million project to boost social accountability in Mongolia in the next four years.

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SDC in partnership with the World Bank launched a project to support social accountability in Mongolia.

The Mainstreaming Social Accountability in Mongolia (MASAM) project seeks to support government efforts to increase transparency and accountability, and give impoverished communities a greater voice on issues affecting them.

“The project builds on years of innovating and experimenting on social accountability in Mongolia by citizens and government bodies, and follows last year’s Glass Account Law that we consider an enabling legal reform for transparency,” said James Anderson, the World Bank Mongolia Country Manager.

“Through MASAM, we hope to facilitate concerted action around institutionalizing social accountability at all levels.”

MASAM will focus on building skills and capacities of citizens and civil society groups in poor and vulnerable regions of Mongolia, and working with local governments to enable sustained outcomes throughout the project.

“We believe that civil society and citizens have an important role to play in strengthening the accountability of public officials, reducing corruption and improving public service delivery,” said Markus Waldvogel, Director of Cooperation of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

“This project will encourage citizens and civil society to exercise their rights to do so.”

The MASAM project will be implemented over four years in 10 aimags and districts of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. It will benefit poor and marginalized groups by involving them in social accountability processes, empowering them to hold public officials accountable for improving the quality, access and delivery of services in their communities.

The participating aimags and districts will be selected according to poverty rates, health-related risks and access to education, as well as the commitment by local governments to implementation.

At the national policy level, the project will work with the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet Secretariat to institutionalize social accountability measures in formalized and sustainable ways.

Contacts:                    

Tina Puntsag + (976) 7007-8207, tpuntsag@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org/mongolia

Soyolmaa Dolgor + (976) 11- 341422, soyolmaa.dolgor@eda.admin.ch

For more information, please visit: www.eda.admin.ch/mongolia