Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival Interview: Batdelger Byambasuren and Tsogobayar Namsrai on Disorder
The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival runs in person in Bucheon, South Korea from June 29 to July 9. The Boston Hassle’s Joshua Polanski interviewed director Batdelger Byambasuren and producer Tsogobayar Namsrai on their film Disorder as part of his multi-outlet coverage of the festival. Be sure to check out his website for updates on additional coverage.
Disorder was the most politically charged film I saw at this year’s BIFAN. Byambasuren’s film takes place at an ornate “night school” in Mongolia, where all studying happens at night because that’s when predators hunt their prey, and according to the school’s director, the students must become predators. Byambasuren’s film is a scathing indictment of both the Mongolian education system and authoritarian control, where anyone with authority is to be questioned and anyone underneath the power of the authorities is an ally. The bugs of capitalism have overrun society, and without the resources of capital, darkness—both literal and metaphorical—will prove overwhelming.
The following interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Namsrai, going back and forth between Mongolian and English, translated the interview in real-time.
BOSTON HASSLE: When did you first fall in love with movies? Was there one film or one director that you look to for your love for cinema?
BATDELGER BYAMBASUREN: The first movie I saw was a Mongolian movie called Flood. The movie’s acting—the whole cast—really inspired me to love movies. And I grew up in an artistic family, so I was always involved in art, in entertainment, so somehow I ended up getting involved in movies.
TSOGOBAYAR NAMSRAI: My mom was director of the Mongolian national broadcast, so I was exposed to film and television [very early]. I would go to my mom’s studio while they were recording and just watch a movie every day.
I used to play with clay to make movies. Whenever I’d watch movies, I’d go back home and make the character with the clay and act out scenes, especially with martial arts and action movies.
BH: I was fascinated by how smart the students had to be to pull off their cheating scheme. There’s something ironic there: to cheat on the school test, you have to be really smart already. Can you tell me a little bit about the school system in Mongolia and perhaps why you chose to critique it in this way?
BB: It’s not just about the school system; it’s about all of society. I tried to criticize what is going on, and what is the problem, especially with school systems trying to make money off of innocents and the health care system. Mongolian society nowadays is not for people anymore; it’s all about making money and making riches.
Continue reading at the Boston Hassle.