Johanna d’Arc of Mongolia

A group of travelers (four women and three men, including Delphine Seyrig, Irm Hermann and Peter Kern) sets off first on the Trans-Siberian Railway and then on the Trans-Mongolian Railway towards Inner Mongolia. Shortly after crossing the border into Mongolia, the women in the group are abducted by a mysterious princess and her female horsemen, and they then travel across the endless steppes with a nomadic caravan. In the grasslands, they witness various rituals, a shamanistic séance, dances and wrestling matches. Both the journey itself and the experience of the unfamiliar and cultural misunderstandings are explored with a decidedly humorous touch. Ulrike Ottinger’s film JOHANNA D’ARC OF MONGOLIA combines the theatrical with the ethnographic, travel with reflection: “For me, the Trans-Siberian route and the Silk Road are like a guest book of cultures, in which the most diverse influences leave their mark. The mutual cross-fertilization of nomadic ideas is the theme of the film.” (Ulrike Ottinger) (al)