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‘Daughter of Genghis’ Review: A Poignant Portrait of a Nationalist Gang Leader Grappling With Motherhood
In "Daughters of Genghis," out of this year's Hot Docs Film Festival, a leader of the nationalist group Gerel Khas faces the responsibility of being a mother.
Directors Kristoffer Juel Poulsen and Christian Als (who also shot the film) follow Byamba and her son, Temuulen, for a seven-year span, capturing how sorrow can drive someone to extreme emotional states that manifest as both violence against one’s community and neglect toward those closest to you. Their mission, as Bymaba tells it, is to shame these sex workers so that they stop selling their bodies to Chinese men, because the Mongolian bloodline must remain “pure.” It is a furious justification for agitated harassment that Gerel Khas considers not only patriotic, but essential. That murky dichotomy of one person’s freedom fighter being another’s terrorist lies at the heart of the first part of “Daughter of Genghis.” After all, the invasive tactics of Gerel Khas are not that different from what various police forces are seen doing in many places in the world.
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