The 80th Venice International Film Festival was held from August 30 to September 9 in Venice Lido, Italy. Mongolian actor Tergel Bold-Erdene won the best actor trophy for a film in the Horizon section for his role as a modern-day shaman in Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir’s City of Wind. Actor B.Tergel was not at the award ceremony, so he expressed his greetings through the screen.

The program of the festival consists of six sections, including the Horizon and the Venetian Classics, which support young artists in international competitions. In this year’s Horizon section, 18 joint works from more than 20 countries including Belgium, Brazil, Georgia, Holland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Ski Lanka, Sweden, and Switzerland competed for the highest prize of this festival “Golden Lion”. The City of Wind was presented a total of five times during the festival and shown to more than 8,000 viewers.

The film director, P.Lkhagvadulam stated that “This film is my attempt to document contemporary Mongolia. I feel a somber and ever-growing past watching us as we hurtle into an uncertain future. I hoped to capture this uncertainty by following Ze, a 17-year-old shaman who is about to graduate high school with top marks. Burdened by ideas of who he should be, Ze suddenly finds an opportunity to focus on the present moment and his desires when 16-year-old Maralaa appears in his life. He discovers himself emotionally and physically. The time spent with Maralaa away from his daily routine allows him to discover his role as a shaman from a distance. Through Ze, I wish to display a fusion of the past, present, and the future of Mongolia.”

Immediately after the release of the film, reviews and articles began to appear in international film critics, artists, and media such as IndieWire, CineEurope, Film Experience, and Screen International.