The Challenge is an anthology of the modern desert. The film perfectly reveals the contradictions between ancient traditions of the Middle East – here symbolized by falconry – and modernity, with its ultramodern technology and other Western temptations. Thanks to micro-cameras, we also experience this environment from the perspective of the falcons and wild animals.
In The Challenge, the Italian artist Yuri Ancarani questions how we are able to hang onto our cultural roots in a world that seems doomed to become ever more globalized.
Qatar, 2015. We zoom in on Khaled and Nasser, two Qataris of the new generation. While they occupy themselves with their Lamborghinis, private jet, pet cheetahs, motorcycles and take selfies perched on their golden baroque thrones, they are looking forward to a falcon hunting competition, and age-old Bedouin tradition.
Yuri Ancarani is an Italian visual artist. His work transforms the codes of documentary filmmaking in a monumental dimension. The man in action, the protagonist of his artworks, becomes transfigured - through a rigorous construction of the images and the sound. Ancarani's work has been acknowledged both in realms of cinema and of contemporary art.
CREDITS
Director Yuri Ancarani
Producer Fabrizio Polpettini, Tommaso Bertani
Cinematography Yuri Ancarani
Music Lorenzo Senni, Francesco Fantini
Sound Mirco Mencacci
Editing Yuri Ancarani
Production La Bête
Coproduction Ring Film & Beursschouwburg
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