Eagle Hunter's Son (2009)

Teenage Bazarbai—the titular eagle hunter’s son—lives with his family in Mongolian yurts somewhere on the steppe. They make their living raising sheep. Although they are nomads, they have some modern conveniences, such as a CD player and satellite television. One day, Bazarbai learns from his father that his older brother, Khan, is leaving for Ulaanbaatar to look for work. Bazarbai is disappointed that Khan is leaving the family and going without him. His father also tells Bazarbai that he will have to take over Khan’s duties and, as a result, will no longer go to school. Bazarbai is upset that his brother is leaving. His father wants his youngest son to carry on the tradition of capturing and training eagles. He teaches Bazarbai how to work with his eagle, but Bazarbai is not enthusiastic about it. He goes with his father to an eagle-hunting competition. After these events, Bazarbai leaves his father and sets off for the capital to find Khan. He takes the bird with him, but does not know how to handle it and treats it roughly. The eagle escapes from him and returns to his father. His father sends the bird after him to keep him company. The initial mutual dislike between the boy and the eagle grows into friendship. On the way to Ulaanbaatar, Bazarbai falls into the hands of smugglers. He escapes with a girl who works for them. They later meet circus performers. Bazarbai wants to travel with them to the city, but the girl does not go with them because she is afraid of the performers and instinctively senses danger from them. After they arrive in Ulaanbaatar, the circus director demands payment for the journey. Against Bazarbai’s wishes, he keeps the eagle, and Bazarbai has to clean the circus to get the bird back. Even so, the director has no intention of returning the eagle. Bazarbai cannot count on help from the corrupt police, who have been bribed by the circus director. Later, the director forces him to perform with the eagle in the ring as a clown. The performance is the only time Bazarbai gets to be with the bird. He seizes the opportunity and makes a spectacular escape from the ring in his clown costume. He is helped by the girl who had accompanied him earlier on the journey and by one of the circus employees, a bear trainer. Bazarbai searches for Khan, asking people about him and showing them a photograph of his brother. He learns that Khan worked in a mine and was supposedly killed in an underground accident two days earlier. However, it turns out that Khan did not die. The eagle finds him buried in a mine tunnel. Khan stays in the capital and looks for another job, while Bazarbai returns home with the eagle. Later, he and his father release the bird into the wild.