We follow the life of single Mongolian mother Gerel Byamba over the period of seven years.
Extreme nationalists in Mongolia vilified Chinese control of the economy, the degradation of women and the threat of Chinese corruption of the “pure Mongolian genes” through Chinese controlled brothels and intermarriage with Mongolian women. Gerel Byamba’s husband died in a Chinese controlled mine. In short it is perceived by many Mongolians the “Chinese SOB’s” are destroying everything in Mongolia like they have done in Tibet.
Initially Gerel seethes with hatred of the Chinese along with Mongolian neo-Nazis with Gerel taking great offence that certain Mongolian nationalists have appropriated the swastika and dressing like SS officers and soldiers. Gerel emphasizes the swastika is Mongolia’s symbol of power and not a Nazi created symbol. However, the goal of ultra nationalism of preserving Mongolian genetic purity has unpleasant historical connotations.
Gerel joins the White Swastikas and dissatisfied with their misuse of the swastika forms the Bright Swastika Women’s National Movement. Over the space of a few years that movement withered along with a good portion of the ultra nationalist movement with one die hard ultra nationalist saying members of ultra nationalist movements in Mongolia have been “bribed” by government jobs.
Facing the collapse of the ultra nationalist movement Gerel ponders a job offer from a Chinese construction company “managing” a railway construction project in the Gobi Desert! Desperate for money she accepts the offer of a two-year contract working as a safety officer. She leaves her young telephone addicted son with distant relatives visiting him occasionally.
After her “Chinese contract” she then accepts a job teaching safety officer skills with a regular income and begins to live a more conventional life with her son. Her hatred of the Chinese has been mitigated by a stress related twitch and a realization that her earlier streak of hatred only caused people to fear her. She shifts her focus on how to help people as opposed to terrorize them as she often did in her earlier brothel raids. Gerel refuses to answer the question if she is now friends with the Chinese.
If the goal of the filmmakers was a deep dive into Mongolian ultra nationalism it fails. It also neglects to explain the role and position of the Mongolian government towards ultra nationalism. What it does do well is to profile how ethnic hatred can galvanize groups of people under threat of cultural and economic dominance but more than hatred is required to develop a coherent nationalist movement. A message to Trumpists?
Directors are Kristoffer Juel Poulson and Chrisian Als.
Screens at HOT DOCS 29April4May2024.
RKS 2024 Film Rating 64/100.
Set the Bar 