Photographer Hamid Sardar-Afkhami lived in Nepal more than ten years of Tibet and Himalayas, and then went to Mongolia to explore life endangered tribe of nomadic herders who still believe in spirits and shamans.
The author of the photographs studied Tibetan and Mongolian languages and also received a Harvard Ph. D. in Sanskrit and Tibetan.
Dukkha — Turkic people, whose whole life is connected with reindeer: tribe of animals give milk and cheese, and even the Mongols with them for hunting elk and wild boar.
The tribe is fast disappearing: there are only 44 families, that is, from 200 to 400 people.
In addition to a series of photos of Sardar-Afkhami directed the film "Reindeer", which showed the seasonal migration of the Mongols around lake Hovsgol. The crew, along with hundreds of herders moving through the forest for them.
The oldest dukkha — 96-year-old shaman Zuan. According to the beliefs of the tribe, it acts as a connecting link between them, the deer and forest spirits of their ancestors, who communicate with the living through songs.
Herders believe that in order to live in harmony with the spirits, people need to respect nature and animals and to pass these beliefs on from generation to generation.
The film was awarded "Best film on mountain culture" at the festival of mountain films Banff.
Keywords: Mongolia | Reindeer | Tribes
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