Filmed over the course of seven years, Daughters of Genghis is a study of a woman named Gerel, a formidable neo-nationalist who guides a women-led movement to protect her homeland of Mongolia and the ideals that she believes are tied to the country. One of her main concerns is the position of women in Mongolia, as she sees them being disenfranchised by becoming prostitutes in a country that has made that act illegal. We see Gerel invade and try to expose the underworld of Ulaanbaatar as she tries to break up the businesses that attempt to masquerade the prostitution business that happens behind its doors.
Even as she succeeds in these raids, there is a clear emptiness that Gerel feels, partly due to the neglect of her son whom she puts second behind her actions to empower her nationalist movement. Through the film, Gerel must figure out what she must sacrifice in order to use her life meaningfully and set up her son to also live a meaningful life.
Genghis has been condemned for some of the very unique and war-like photography that it captures as the filmmakers, hailing from Sweden and Denmark, put themselves right beside Gerel while she attempts to raid and expose the brothels and the women who work in them. This, however, becomes the most thrilling and impactful footage found in the film. The filmmakers are honest with their work as they try not to interfere as they see the impact Gerel’s approach to life has on herself and her son. However, this approach makes the back half of the film drag on for much longer than it should have and exposes the strongest problem with the documentary, which is that it did not have a strong point of view. The score does provide nice depth for the attempts at emotionally cathartic moments but, as the story becomes less eventful, so does the documentary as a whole.
Daughters of Genghis is playing at HotDocs ’24. For more information, click here.
