“There will be great Mongolian movie producers soon”
The following is an interview with G. Jigjidsuren, an honored Mongolian filmmaker, screenwriter, and director, who has made over 30 Mongolian classic and documentary films.
-Last Saturday the Mongolian Film Festival took place and chose the best films of the past year. Do you think the chosen films deserved to be credited as the best?
-Was there such an event? I did not know, I missed it.
-Are you that busy?
-Well, I have things to do but not enough to keep me busy all the time. I currently work as a movie director and producer at the Mongolian National Broadcast. My office is on the rural side of the city, so usually there is no need for me to travel to the centre of the city. Today when I came here, I spent a lot of time stuck in traffic.
-We heard that you were working as an advising director for Anu Khatan (Anu Queen film). How is it going so far?
-Good young people are making this film. A movie is a novel not a play. It is very expensive to create a film; it is a very difficult game. Teams of experienced and specialized people are required. Every person involved with this movie: director, artist and producers – they are all from the Movie Productions University. So I have a firm belief that this film will be a very good one. Our operator D. Angarag is very skilled; I met him during the production of Dev (film).
-Does their methods and way of doings things now differ from your days of making films?
-Yes, it is very different. The film making methods used by the State Awarded B. Baljinnyam long ago are outdated today. Technology is a whole different matter too. Although other arts have histories of thousands of years, the reason that the 100 year old art of filmmaking is the most famous and successful out of them is that filmmaking is based on advancing technology.
-What is your specialty or unique concept?
-The concept I hold is that I always try to avoid using the methods and procedures that I have used before in my previous films when creating new ones. I have been under heavy criticism, hail of appraisal, and storms of confusion before.
The films Buleen Nuram and Amin Mur were very different. For example, Buleen Nuram was being criticized for insulting the Mongolian people. But this film fetched me a Best Director award from the Asian-Pacific film festival. Foreigners were awed at my film saying, “there are not many movies like this.”
The clothing used in the film was definitely a new thing during that time.
-The actress that portrayed the main protagonist of the film O. Enkhtuul remembers being scolded by you a couple of times on the set. What were the reasons?
-She said that she will not appear in the film with exposed breasts, and I did not give in and told her “you’re a professional actress now, you cannot always complain about things like this.”
But I know and understand that it must have been very difficult, but her acting was exceedingly good.
-Plays and films are almost always named after the director, not the writers or anyone else that contributed to the film. What is the reason for this?
-Although filmmaking is a collaboration of many individuals, I do not like saying that. This is because a film’s soul, its heart is in the hands of the director. If you ask me what the direction of a movie is, I’d say that it is an expression of an idea. This is because even though I am filming someone else’s creation or work, I am expressing my own ideas and opinions.
If another director makes a movie based on the same work, that person will also make the film in their own way.
-What do you think is the reason that the quality of Mongolian movies has dropped lately?
-Professional critics – the most important part of the movie industry – are missing. Sometimes I read movie reviews but they are solely written from the viewers’ point of view. Some of the written reviews are ordered by the company that made that film. I guess that is because it is all about money. Some of them had the idea to have people interviewed and show them praising the film from an apparently random person.
But last year Mongolian filmmakers made several good movies. Burkhan Urshuu and Bodliin Khulgaich were both good.
-How was Aravt?
-A year ago you said that the Mongolian film industry was at the edge of life and death. Have you changed your views?
-It has been over 20 years since Mongolian films were of a propaganda nature. But although Mongolian films were strong in their expression of the socialist system, these films won many international film awards during those times. But are there any Mongolian movies that have won significant awards in the past 20 years?
This is why I had to say that. A movie producer is very important, there will have to be great ones soon; but they do not appear like that in an instant.
-What do you think of recent sequels to older Mongolian movies?
-Today it seems that film making is not an art; it is only a source of money. But I will not say that this is wrong. Anyone who invested 10 tugrugs of course would like to have it back with an additional 10 tugrugs.
Western films usually have continuity. The reason for this is that the fans of the movie always wonder about what happened to the older cast members and how will they portray their roles today. For Mongolia, nearly every sequel made is never as successful or of good quality as the previous, older ones.
I received many letters of sequel proposals for Ankhni Alkham and several other films but I did not want to make any of them.
-Why?
-Do you have a specific novel or screenplay that you have always wanted to turn into a film?
-For many years, I thought of making a film from Kukh Javar by author, writer D. Tsendjav. The covered subjects are very interesting. Today, the expression of people’s personalities is very important.
-There have been numerous films on Chingis Khan. But it seems that those films always explicitly shows his aggressive combat and fighting abilities, but never his inner qualities. What do you think about those films?
-I wrote a short research essay titled “The Portrayal of Chingis Khan around the World.” To tell you the truth, currently there is no better acted Chingis Khan than the Inner Mongolian one. I have novel on Jamukh, named Usan Deerkhi Gal, edited by B. Lkhagvasuren. You see, once you say Jamukh the name Temujin unconsciously flows in your mind. The events in there happened in three days, and the storyline is very unique.
-Well, instead of saving it and letting it sit, why don’t you turn into something?
-I am a bad producer. I have a good group but nothing more. I do not have the gift to skilfully ask people for financing. Unless I find people that I can really get along with, the book will still lay in the midst of my belongings. What’s more, I am aging by the day.
-Tell us how your first movie Ankhni Alkham was made.
-Well, it was my diploma work. I graduated in the Soviet Union in 1967 as a film and television director. I am also a screenwriter.
-So you have multiple professions?
-Yes. Every Filmmaking University in the Soviet Union requires the students to write a story during the course of the three years of study. My story was on the 1932 revolutionaries, Ert Nissen Burged. But it was a failure. I have learned much from that experience.
Then the State Awarded Ch.Lodoidamba suggested that I get an idea for a story from Chekhov’s stories.
-So the title was changed?
-Yes, the Ministry of Culture sent me a request to change the name as the previous name Uvuljikh Khun was somewhat confusing.
-Yes, the most tiring and exhausting part of my film production was the tedious paperwork and processes that one has to go through: the Movie Production, the Drama Council at the Ministry of Culture, the Central Union of the Party and the Department of Propaganda.
-How difficult was it to pick cast members when you were younger?
-Most of characters from my stories are dedicated to specific actors or actresses so I never had much trouble choosing them.
-What got you into filmmaking, considering that you are a son of a shepherd?
-I got into filmmaking through novels, stories and writing. Well, I may have been born in the home of a livestock tender but I arrived in the capital city when I was only eight months old, so one can say that I’m a city boy. My mother was pregnant before me but it failed after she fell of a horse. So once she was pregnant with me she went over to my grandfather’s home out in the countryside to give birth and travelled back to the city afterwards.
-What are your parents’ professions?
-Both of them are economists and they have worked as head accountants in the Ministry of Trade for over 20 years.
-Do you have many siblings?
-I have no siblings.
My grandmother raised me. I do not remember much of my grandfather. I know he was a large man and was a quite successful wrestler when he was younger.
-You say you began your filmmaking career through writing stories. Do you also write poems?
-Yes, my first one was about a goat, written during my middle school years. Teacher M. Chimde was the editor of the poetry curriculum. My teacher would read children’s poems over the radio and many of them written by me. Once I graduated my middle school I wanted to attend the Poetry University in Moscow but I never received the invitation.
But my teacher Ch. Lodoidamba told me, “Do not worry, go work at the Movie Production for a year and it will be settled then.”
I was sent to the Soviet Union to study as a director two years later.
-What are your other interests besides making movies?
-I used to play basketball. Well, my children taunt me for it today but I am a good basketball player. I am not bad at hockey too. I also used to play soccer.
-As for me, all I know is that your wife is named D. Tsetsegee and nothing more. Tell us more about her.
-She is the one carrying the whole family by herself. Her profession is power engineering. In 1990 when Movie Production was all but collapsing, I took her out of her job there and hired her as an art director. She is still working with me.
-How did you meet her and when were you two married?
-We married in 1971. I met her after I arrived in the Soviet Union.
Her grandfather Luvsannyam was a Buriat. My in-laws are from Russian Khiagt, Galuut Lake and Ulan Uud. In 1935, her grandfather served as a translator for Russian specialists at the Movie Production. The guys at Move Production would urge Luvsannyam to become an operator but he insisted on working as a film mechanic; and he became one of the first film mechanics of Mongolia.
Then Tsetsgee was born while he worked there and she would follow her grandfather wherever he went. She said sometimes she would sleep over in the waiting room.
Yeah, it is strange I met my wife through her grandfather.
-How many children do you have?
-Three, the oldest is Bodisuren. He’s an operator. He has a private business going on with his friends. He is very skilled at setting lightning effects for films. The two younger ones are named Bodibaatar and Batbaatar.
-Last Saturday the Mongolian Film Festival took place and chose the best films of the past year. Do you think the chosen films deserved to be credited as the best?
-Was there such an event? I did not know, I missed it.
-Are you that busy?
-Well, I have things to do but not enough to keep me busy all the time. I currently work as a movie director and producer at the Mongolian National Broadcast. My office is on the rural side of the city, so usually there is no need for me to travel to the centre of the city. Today when I came here, I spent a lot of time stuck in traffic.
-We heard that you were working as an advising director for Anu Khatan (Anu Queen film). How is it going so far?
-Good young people are making this film. A movie is a novel not a play. It is very expensive to create a film; it is a very difficult game. Teams of experienced and specialized people are required. Every person involved with this movie: director, artist and producers – they are all from the Movie Productions University. So I have a firm belief that this film will be a very good one. Our operator D. Angarag is very skilled; I met him during the production of Dev (film).
-Does their methods and way of doings things now differ from your days of making films?
-Yes, it is very different. The film making methods used by the State Awarded B. Baljinnyam long ago are outdated today. Technology is a whole different matter too. Although other arts have histories of thousands of years, the reason that the 100 year old art of filmmaking is the most famous and successful out of them is that filmmaking is based on advancing technology.
-What is your specialty or unique concept?
-The concept I hold is that I always try to avoid using the methods and procedures that I have used before in my previous films when creating new ones. I have been under heavy criticism, hail of appraisal, and storms of confusion before.
The films Buleen Nuram and Amin Mur were very different. For example, Buleen Nuram was being criticized for insulting the Mongolian people. But this film fetched me a Best Director award from the Asian-Pacific film festival. Foreigners were awed at my film saying, “there are not many movies like this.”
The clothing used in the film was definitely a new thing during that time.
-The actress that portrayed the main protagonist of the film O. Enkhtuul remembers being scolded by you a couple of times on the set. What were the reasons?
-She said that she will not appear in the film with exposed breasts, and I did not give in and told her “you’re a professional actress now, you cannot always complain about things like this.”
But I know and understand that it must have been very difficult, but her acting was exceedingly good.
-Plays and films are almost always named after the director, not the writers or anyone else that contributed to the film. What is the reason for this?
-Although filmmaking is a collaboration of many individuals, I do not like saying that. This is because a film’s soul, its heart is in the hands of the director. If you ask me what the direction of a movie is, I’d say that it is an expression of an idea. This is because even though I am filming someone else’s creation or work, I am expressing my own ideas and opinions.
If another director makes a movie based on the same work, that person will also make the film in their own way.
-What do you think is the reason that the quality of Mongolian movies has dropped lately?
-Professional critics – the most important part of the movie industry – are missing. Sometimes I read movie reviews but they are solely written from the viewers’ point of view. Some of the written reviews are ordered by the company that made that film. I guess that is because it is all about money. Some of them had the idea to have people interviewed and show them praising the film from an apparently random person.
But last year Mongolian filmmakers made several good movies. Burkhan Urshuu and Bodliin Khulgaich were both good.
-How was Aravt?
-I haven’t seen it. But I heard from some people who had watched it that the storyline and direction is bad, although the clothing and acting were quite good.
-A year ago you said that the Mongolian film industry was at the edge of life and death. Have you changed your views?
-It has been over 20 years since Mongolian films were of a propaganda nature. But although Mongolian films were strong in their expression of the socialist system, these films won many international film awards during those times. But are there any Mongolian movies that have won significant awards in the past 20 years?
This is why I had to say that. A movie producer is very important, there will have to be great ones soon; but they do not appear like that in an instant.
-What do you think of recent sequels to older Mongolian movies?
-Today it seems that film making is not an art; it is only a source of money. But I will not say that this is wrong. Anyone who invested 10 tugrugs of course would like to have it back with an additional 10 tugrugs.
Western films usually have continuity. The reason for this is that the fans of the movie always wonder about what happened to the older cast members and how will they portray their roles today. For Mongolia, nearly every sequel made is never as successful or of good quality as the previous, older ones.
I received many letters of sequel proposals for Ankhni Alkham and several other films but I did not want to make any of them.
-Why?
-I don’t think they will surpass the prequels in any way.
-Do you have a specific novel or screenplay that you have always wanted to turn into a film?
-For many years, I thought of making a film from Kukh Javar by author, writer D. Tsendjav. The covered subjects are very interesting. Today, the expression of people’s personalities is very important.
-There have been numerous films on Chingis Khan. But it seems that those films always explicitly shows his aggressive combat and fighting abilities, but never his inner qualities. What do you think about those films?
-I wrote a short research essay titled “The Portrayal of Chingis Khan around the World.” To tell you the truth, currently there is no better acted Chingis Khan than the Inner Mongolian one. I have novel on Jamukh, named Usan Deerkhi Gal, edited by B. Lkhagvasuren. You see, once you say Jamukh the name Temujin unconsciously flows in your mind. The events in there happened in three days, and the storyline is very unique.
-Well, instead of saving it and letting it sit, why don’t you turn into something?
-I am a bad producer. I have a good group but nothing more. I do not have the gift to skilfully ask people for financing. Unless I find people that I can really get along with, the book will still lay in the midst of my belongings. What’s more, I am aging by the day.
-Tell us how your first movie Ankhni Alkham was made.
-Well, it was my diploma work. I graduated in the Soviet Union in 1967 as a film and television director. I am also a screenwriter.
-So you have multiple professions?
-Yes. Every Filmmaking University in the Soviet Union requires the students to write a story during the course of the three years of study. My story was on the 1932 revolutionaries, Ert Nissen Burged. But it was a failure. I have learned much from that experience.
Then the State Awarded Ch.Lodoidamba suggested that I get an idea for a story from Chekhov’s stories.
So after reading some of the stories, I met with Ch. Gombo. He said, “I have this story here, make something out of it if you want,” and handed me the first draft of Uvuljikh Khun. So that was how Ankhni Alkham went into its production.
-So the title was changed?
-Yes, the Ministry of Culture sent me a request to change the name as the previous name Uvuljikh Khun was somewhat confusing.
-You have made over 30 films and documentaries. Were there days when you just wanted to give up?
-Yes, the most tiring and exhausting part of my film production was the tedious paperwork and processes that one has to go through: the Movie Production, the Drama Council at the Ministry of Culture, the Central Union of the Party and the Department of Propaganda.
-How difficult was it to pick cast members when you were younger?
-Most of characters from my stories are dedicated to specific actors or actresses so I never had much trouble choosing them.
-What got you into filmmaking, considering that you are a son of a shepherd?
-I got into filmmaking through novels, stories and writing. Well, I may have been born in the home of a livestock tender but I arrived in the capital city when I was only eight months old, so one can say that I’m a city boy. My mother was pregnant before me but it failed after she fell of a horse. So once she was pregnant with me she went over to my grandfather’s home out in the countryside to give birth and travelled back to the city afterwards.
-What are your parents’ professions?
-Both of them are economists and they have worked as head accountants in the Ministry of Trade for over 20 years.
-Do you have many siblings?
-I have no siblings.
My grandmother raised me. I do not remember much of my grandfather. I know he was a large man and was a quite successful wrestler when he was younger.
-You say you began your filmmaking career through writing stories. Do you also write poems?
-Yes, my first one was about a goat, written during my middle school years. Teacher M. Chimde was the editor of the poetry curriculum. My teacher would read children’s poems over the radio and many of them written by me. Once I graduated my middle school I wanted to attend the Poetry University in Moscow but I never received the invitation.
But my teacher Ch. Lodoidamba told me, “Do not worry, go work at the Movie Production for a year and it will be settled then.”
I was sent to the Soviet Union to study as a director two years later.
-What are your other interests besides making movies?
-I used to play basketball. Well, my children taunt me for it today but I am a good basketball player. I am not bad at hockey too. I also used to play soccer.
-As for me, all I know is that your wife is named D. Tsetsegee and nothing more. Tell us more about her.
-She is the one carrying the whole family by herself. Her profession is power engineering. In 1990 when Movie Production was all but collapsing, I took her out of her job there and hired her as an art director. She is still working with me.
-How did you meet her and when were you two married?
-We married in 1971. I met her after I arrived in the Soviet Union.
Her grandfather Luvsannyam was a Buriat. My in-laws are from Russian Khiagt, Galuut Lake and Ulan Uud. In 1935, her grandfather served as a translator for Russian specialists at the Movie Production. The guys at Move Production would urge Luvsannyam to become an operator but he insisted on working as a film mechanic; and he became one of the first film mechanics of Mongolia.
Then Tsetsgee was born while he worked there and she would follow her grandfather wherever he went. She said sometimes she would sleep over in the waiting room.
Yeah, it is strange I met my wife through her grandfather.
-How many children do you have?
-Three, the oldest is Bodisuren. He’s an operator. He has a private business going on with his friends. He is very skilled at setting lightning effects for films. The two younger ones are named Bodibaatar and Batbaatar.
One of them works at the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. The other one graduated from the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, taught there for five years and is now studying as a space geologist in Washington DC, USA for his masters degree.
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