White Grass

WINNER – Best Documentary Short

In the remote northeast of Mongolia, Munkhjargal, her parents, and her grandparents persevere and carry on the nomadic herding tradition, working from dawn to dusk to maintain their herd and living off the meat, milk, and wool their herd provides. Munkhjargal dreams of becoming a horse trainer like her dad one day. In between the work herding demands – corralling horses, churning butter, shearing wool – Munkhjargal and her dad train and prepare their horses to race at the annual Naadam festival.

Directed by Justin Kim WooSŏk
Produced by Ruby Lanet

Director’s Bio: Born in South Korea and raised in LA, Justin has lived and worked across Latin America, Europe, and Asia. He is interested in the intersection of fiction and nonfiction, of ethnography and speculation, and of diaspora and homeland. His short films have screened in festivals and museums around the world including Sundance, Tribeca, HotDocs, and Busan MoCA. He is a current Indeed x Hillman Grad Rising Voices fellow and was previously a recipient of the Sundance Ignite, Fulbright, Thomas J. Watson, and Sony Pictures Classic x IFP Marcie Bloom fellowships.

Plays in

Revisiting Landscapes: Children’s Perspectives

Children observe and listen to those around them. But their understanding of a situation doesn’t always align with that of adults. In these shorts, filmmakers tap into the unique emotional and psychological perspectives of young people to tell their stories. What does it feel like to be bullied by your classmates? to struggle against the forces of unforgiving climates? How can a person hold onto a sense of self against the pressures of culture and tradition? Glimpse the world anew through this shorts program!