Photo: X Verleih

Byambasuren Davaa was born in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator. From 1989 to 1994, she worked for Mongolian State Television as a presenter and assistant director; during this same period, in 1993, she began a two-year course in Law at the university of her home town. She then began to study at the College of Cinematic Art in Ulan Bator in 1998. Two years later, she moved to Germany to continue her studies in the Department of Documentary Film at the Academy of Television and Film (HFF/M) in Munich. Only her second film at the HFF/M, DIE GESCHICHTE VOM WEINENDEN KAMEL / THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL (2003), which she realized together with her fellow student Luigi Falorni, became one of the most successful cinema documentaries of recent years. The film (about an ancient ritual among Mongolian nomads) was sold in approximately 80 countries and was enthusiastically greeted by millions of cinema viewers all over the world. It has also won numerous international prizes, including Audience Awards at the festivals in Karlovy Vary, Indianapolis and Buenos Aires. In addition, it was nominated for an Oscar® in the category Best Documentary Feature Film. Newsweek praised the director for her outstanding awareness of natural beauty, The Washington Post saw the film in the "proud tradition" of ethnographic masterpieces, and Screen International maintained that it possessed "all the qualities to melt the hardest heart and become a cult item." Davaa also wrote and directed an episode of the German TV series "Mädschengeschichten" in 2003. Davaa's graduation film at the HFF/M, DER HÖHLE DES GELBEN HUNDES / THE CAVE OF THE YELLOW DOG (2005) could thus be sold in numerous countries in advance of its premiere. This semi-fictional feature about a young nomad girl, her dog and a Mongolian legend had its world premiere at the Munich Film Festival - where it not only won the Audience Award, but also the coveted German Film Promotion Award.  Nominated for Achievement in Documentary Features 2004: DIE GESCHICHTE VOM WEINENDEN KAMEL - producer (w. Luigi Falorni) 1 nomination