How to make milk schnapps? How to catch a young wild mare? Hands on, Reinhold Messner and his 14-year-old son Simon experience the daily life of the Tuwa nomads in western Mongolia.
Their yurt is located in the High Altay range, close
to the Chinese border. It is a wild and lonely expanse, the home to nearly
4,000 members of the Tuwa tribe, who continue to lead their traditional nomadic
lives come summer or winter.
The Messners learn how the Tuwa nomads wrangle with nature for their livelihood.
Under 33 snow-covered summits they pitch their felt-tents to roam the Mongolian
steppe with their horses, yaks, sheep, goats and 
camels.
They survive on meat and milk as well as make their own products from wool,
felt, leather and fur. The Tuwa speak their own language and have retained
their animistic-shamanism, which permeates their entire world of thought.
This alien culture is explained to the two Southern Tyroleans by Galsan Tschinag. Tschinag is the tribal chief of the Tuwa and grew up in this nomadic world before studying in Germany.
Today he is a successful poet and author writing in German about the hardships of his people and introducing the nomadic culture to the West.
The
Messners have a great amount of sympathy for the nomads, but they also learn
of the downsides of this lifestyle, which often means poverty. They also know
that the chances of survival for these nomadic traditions are not very good.
Format: Digi-Beta, 16:9
Duration: 52 Minuten und 43:30 Minuten
Author and Director: Elke Werry
Camera: Jörg Jeshel, BVK
Sound and Editing: Manfred Linke
Production Assistant: Aibora Galsan
Music: Popisan, Galtai Galsan, Stefan Eichinger, Steffen Neuert
Production: Along Mekong Productions Heidelberg
Editor: Ulrike Becker, SWR
