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A Mongolian girl’s dreams of being the first female to enter the Golden Eagle competition

• https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/the-eagle-huntress-review-otto-bell-kazakh-falconry-mongolia

Perched on a mountain ridge, she was smiling with delight at a ferocious golden eagle flapping on her arm... he shots were taken in the Altai mountains which, Bell points out, “is the most remote part of the least-populated country in the world”.

The snowy, rocky terrain of the Altai mountains is gorgeous and inviting, but also treacherous. Most fascinating is their working relationship with the magnificent golden eagles of the region. Captured at just the right moment of growth – old enough to fly, but still young enough to get yanked from a nest – they are trained to aid in foxhunting, but only for seven years, before they are returned to the wild. It is a noble tradition, but, as with traditions of many cultures, certain aspects of it can use a rethink.

Enter Aisholpan, a rosy-cheeked, exuberant 13-year-old daughter of an eagle hunter...