If Only I Could Hibernate

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If Only I Could Hibernate

2023

1h 39m

Drama

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100%

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15 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

A poor but prideful teenager, Ulzii, lives in the yurt area of Ulaanbaatar with his family. He is a physics genius and is determined to win a science competition to earn a scholarship. When his mother finds a job in the countryside, she leaves him and his younger siblings to face a harsh winter by themselves. Ulzii will have to take a risky job to look after them all and keep his home heated.

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

04/21/2024

4/5

Brings an earthy, lived-in authenticity to a premise that, in other hands, could feel like a piece of ethnographic voyeurism.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

04/17/2024

3/5

Perhaps the film could have given us a clearer view of the teacher’s inner life and past, but this is still an interestingly downbeat, shrewd drama.

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Hamza Shehryar

Little White Lies

04/17/2024

3/5

A formidable debut that captures the indomitability of the human spirit amid even the most challenging circumstances.

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Rubén Romero Santos

Cinemanía (Spain)

May 28

3.5/5

A beautiful film about a more than painful reality. [Full review in Spanish]

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Frank J. Avella

The Contending

12/19/2024

B

Zoljargal Purevdash’s sweet, heartbreaking and hopeful feature film debut...never bogs down in bleakness, yet feels wholly authentic. This is one of those gems from a country most people never give a second thought to and deserves consideration.

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Hayley Croke

Loud and Clear Reviews

10/25/2024

4/5

Zoljargal Purevdash’s hypnotizing debut feature film takes an unexpected yet deeply nuanced take on the coming-of-age trope with a character that is not slowly assimilating adulthood but rather harshly thrown into it.

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Vince Q.

@Vincedeq Nov 1

Mongolia’s submission for AAMPAS Best Foreign Film is a charming underdog story about the perseverance and sacrifice undertaken by a young man as he attempts to break the cycle of generational poverty in Ulaanbaatar.

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Zoljargal Purevdash

Director

Tuguldur Batsaikhan

Erkhemee

Nominjiguur Tsend

Tungaa

Battsooj Uurtsaikh

Ulzii

Batmandakh Batchuluun

Garig

Batsaikhan Battulga

Sharka

Hounds

93%

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Hounds

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TRAILER

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In Camera

100%

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In Camera

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With Love and a Major Organ

88%

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With Love and a Major Organ

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50%

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Synopsis

A poor but prideful teenager, Ulzii, lives in the yurt area of Ulaanbaatar with his family. He is a physics genius and is determined to win a science competition to earn a scholarship. When his mother finds a job in the countryside, she leaves him and his younger siblings to face a harsh winter by themselves. Ulzii will have to take a risky job to look after them all and keep his home heated.

Director: Zoljargal Purevdash
Producer: Frédéric Corvez, Maéva Savinien, Zoljargal Purevdash
Screenwriter: Zoljargal Purevdash
Production Co: Amygdala Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Mongolian
Runtime: 1h 39m