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. In the glaring light of an empty landscape, following flight lines and lures, the film recounts a strange kind of “desert weekend”, in which technological and anthropological microcosms hang in the air, like the falcon, drifting on the irreversible currents of images.

THE DIRECTOR

Yuri Ancarani (Ravenna 1972) is an Italian video artist and film maker. His works come from a continuous mingling of documentary cinema and contemporary art. His works have been shown at international museums and exhibitions like: 55 Biennale di Venezia, Museo MAXXI (Roma), Museo Marino Marini (Venezia), R. Solomon Guggenheim Museum (New York); Prague Biennal 5 (Praga); 14 Media Art Biennale Wro (Polonia); Galleria ZERO (Milano); N.O. Gallery (Milano). And also at several festivals like:  Venice Film Festival, IFFR Rotterdam, IDFA, Hot Docs, Cinéma du Réel, Full Frame Documentary Festival.