An adaptation of a short story by Yakut writer Vasily Yakovlev about humans’ inability to overcome nature.
In the 1930s, an old couple, Mikipper (Stepan Petrov) and Oppuos (Zoya Popova), live in a run-down shack in the taiga. They are not aware of the revolution that has taken place in the country. Their few relatives live far away, and their only son, who never grew up, is buried behind the house. One day, at the start of winter, an eagle comes to the larch by their home. What might the bird want from them? A shaman tells the old couple that Mikipper, who destroyed an eagle’s nest as a boy, has a debt to pay and needs to redeem himself before Lord Eagle. The eagle becomes part of the family: the couple feed him and come to understand that people should not anger nature.
The second feature by Yakut director Eduard Novikov won Best Film at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2018. Lord Eagle is a minimal and seemingly simple film about the Soviet state’s arrogant attempt to subordinate knowledge about other worlds that will remain long after we are gone. The film was made with careful attention to the details of the everyday life and wise traditions of the Sakha people and with awe at the deep connection between the human world and nature.
The film will be screened in Yakut with Russian subtitles.
The Lord Eagle
Director Eduard Novikov
Russia, 2018. 80 min. 12+
