THE CHALLENGE

Synopsis

Falconry has a history that stretches back over 40 centuries. In the West it was a prevailing passion of the medieval aristocracy, but its prestige continues undiminished in contemporary Arab culture. Three years of observing this form of hunting in the field have made it possible to capture the spirit of a tradition that today allows its practitioners to keep a close rapport with the desert, despite their predominantly urban lifestyle. Our guide to how they cross that threshold is a falconer taking his birds to compete in a tournament in Qatar…

Director Biography

Born in Ravenna in 1972, Yuri Ancarani is an Italian visual artist. His work has been acknowledged both in the realms of cinema and of contemporary art. His last five films have been shown and awarded in more than a hundred international festivals – including Locarno, Venice and Toronto – and in the most important museums of the world, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Venice Biennale, the Guggenheim Museum in New York and he recently had a solo show at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.