The Mongolian Falcon

[rowan klein <rowank@onthenet.com.au>]

While surfing for Kotonishiki Dampatsu pictures I came across this site.
Has anyone seem the movie?

Checked the archives and could not find anything on this, so will post it
to the list to fill non-basho time.

My web site has also been updated so if you want ot check out records, ht
stats or more old newspaper articles check it out.
http://www.onthenet.com.au~/rowank/

http://www.cyberfilmschool.com/articles/banf_sumo_wrestling.htm
Banff and Sumo Wrestling
By Andrew Whyte (9/10/99)

Now that September is here and Banff is almost two months behind me, this
seems like a good time to look back and reflect. I went to the Banff
Television Festival with some development money from a national broadcaster
with hopes of pitching my project. I was also supported by Jeanne Harco who
is the writer on the project and my co-producer Errin Mussolum. Errin and
Jeanne also came to Banff to pitch something of their own.

Banff, Alberta, home of the Banff Television Festival

It was an extremely worthwhile experience. As a new filmmaker it is
rewarding to spend time around people in the business and learn from them.
I can remember that while I was at Banff I often thought to myself how well
I might have done if only I had of been more prepared for it. I also spent
time thinking about what I would do differently the following year. The
small town environment in Banff is perfect for an event like this. Having
many of the key people centralized and present in one place for numerous
days allows for more contact with individuals on an informal basis. 

My documentary, "The Mongolian Falcon", is about Kyokushuzan, a Mongolian
who has worked in Japan for the last 8 years as a sumo wrestler. I started
the project in June of 1998 when the top 60 sumo wrestlers and their
entourage came from Japan to Vancouver for a mini-tournament. My initial
goal was to do a very short profile on one of the wrestlers while they were
in Vancouver. After chasing around two wrestlers for the first few days of
the tournament and not getting the results I wanted, my production crew
bumped into Kyokushuzan on a golf course somewhere out in the suburbs. We
developed a particular fondness for Kyokushuzan, and after a night of
drinks and throat singing at the Railway Club in Vancouver my crew and I
were invited to visit Shu (I think he simplifies his name for foreigners)
later that month in Mongolia. Could we say no? Of course not. We packed our
bags and ended up spending ten days traveling around the country in a
Russian limousine and consuming huge amounts of fermented horses milk and
Mongolian vodka. The journey was fairly taxing on the body. I do not
remember seeing a vegetable the whole time I was there. The last meal at a
fancy Korean restaurant where we took some of Shu's sisters for dinner
introduced something into my body which required massive doses of rare
antibiotics to set me right again. I did bring home something more
worthwhile, however. The short film that I took to the Banff festival was
built on material I collected on my first trip, and after the festival I
set off again for Mongolia where I once again traveled with Kyokushuzan and
stayed many days out in the countryside with his family.


Still from "The Mongolian Falcon"

Then I returned to Japan to meet with broadcasters and various individuals
important to the project, some of whom I initially made contact with in
Banff. When my budget is finally in place I will go to Japan for 3-4 weeks
to film a sumo tournament and spend time documenting Kyokushuzan's life in
Japan. 

I made the drive up to Banff with Barry Greenfeld who has been with me from
day one of the documentary. Barry is an extremely funny individual who,
despite the seemingly tragic circumstances of his life, manages to find
elements of humour in almost all situations. Last I heard of Barry, despite
being a devout Jew, he was at a Baptist camp with his fundamentalist
girlfriend who also happens to be the mother of his child. Barry is
currently lobbying his partner to finalize her divorce proceedings. On the
surface Barry seems to be only a minor player in the scheme of the sumo
project. He is an accountant by trade but his first love is comedy. He is
currently a mattresses delivery boy who also moonlights as a pedicab driver
when it isn't raining here in Vancouver. Which means he only works 2-3 days
a month. Barry was originally the host of the documentary, but due to his
absolute commitment to the absurd and his lack of understanding of reality,
I have slotted him into a productions assistant role. This decision was
based purely on my sense of self-preservation and had nothing to do with
any lack of appreciation for his style. I have decided to take on the role
of interviewer and I will find a bilingual camera-person to shoot for us in
Japan. Barry will also be called upon when things are getting too serious
between our production team and the Sumo Association who are notoriously
unfunny. Meanwhile, Barry is great on a road trip. He is a bit more of a
hindrance at a television festival, however. One morning he weaseled his
way into a press conference featuring this year's pick for the Festival's
Life Achievement Award, Martin Short. He asked a very bizarre question
involving snack foods and became known thereafter as "The Popcorn Guy". I
was known as "The Guy Who Knows The Popcorn Guy", a position widely
recognized to have a tenuous hold on reality. Not a great rep when you're
trying to pitch a project.

Accommodation is very difficult to find in Banff during the festival. The
French Canadians, making an exodus from Quebec in huge numbers, dominate
the low-rent housing and YWCA dorms. The regular hotels are way beyond some
documentary filmmaker's budget and camping is forbidden within the town's
limits. There is a campground a few kilometers out of town but the drive
out there is a huge hassle, especially after a day's consumption of free
booze. Barry and I were fortunate enough to meet up with a delegate with
huge corporate backing who was willing to put us up in his very large hotel
room. Sadly, he was only in town for three days and after that we were
forced to sleep in the getaway van. On the up side, we managed to find a
decent parking spot only two minutes walk from the hotel where everything
was taking place. 

Once accommodation is taken care of, keeping one's belly full becomes the
number one concern. Of course promoting one's project is of primary
concern, but how much can really be accomplished when one is hungry? A
glance at the schedule for the week alleviates any fear one might have had
about food. There are numerous lunches and dinners sponsored by various
large broadcasters and corporations and the food is graciously prepared by
the very competent chefs at the Banff Springs Hotel. The food was extremely
rich but always excellent, and the staff always beyond reproach. My
compliments to the personnel managers for selecting such fine looking,
upstanding Canadians to make our stay more than just a pleasant one. 

The reason I imagine most people go to Banff is to make deals. In this
world of high technology where human contact is kept to a minimum, the
one-on-one is still invaluable. If you are liked, then that often - but not
always - translates into trust. Trust may just translate into a deal. In my
case I made two or three contacts which have proven quite valuable in my
pursuit to finish the film. But one of the big mistakes I made was not
preparing enough for Banff. I should have had a clearer idea of who I
needed to see and tried to set up meetings prior to my arrival. As a result
of my lack of preparedness I ended up not getting the opportunity to see
some of those people. 

This is how the whole thing works. Every morning, people arrive at the
delegates lounge where all the participants in the festival have a mailbox.
People drop off notes, treatments, and anything else they want read into
somebody's box. The representatives of broadcasters and funding agencies
tend to have their boxes crammed full with papers while first timers like
myself tend to end up with the occasional flyer. 

Barry must have picked up on my disappointment after my first few mornings
with an empty box. He sent me a short note promising me production money
for a television series that I want to develop which is essentially an
in-depth examination of my life and my relationship to all those around me.
I was touched by his generosity.

After people sift through their mail and peruse the projects that interest
them, they then start to set up meetings. Some people seem impossible to
contact and one wonders if in fact they are spending less time doing their
job and more time pleasuring themselves. These acts of self-indulgence seem
to be tolerated at the festival, perhaps even encouraged. The word out
there is that most people at Banff have difficulty dealing with the concept
of monogamy when they are visiting. Could it be the mountain air? Yes,
Banff is an amazing training ground to hone your pitching techniques. 

But let's get back to talking about film. I probably pitched to ten
individuals or groups over the period of five days. Out of those ten I
showed my eight-minute trailer to about half of them. I really enjoyed this
aspect of the festival; instant results. You have the opportunity
to find out right away whether or not they like your stuff. Some of the
groups that I met with included NHK from Japan, the NFB, and a few
distributors. In a few cases I was told straight out that the film I
planned to make would have no possibility of finding its way onto their
airwaves. Although I pitched my film as a cultural/sports documentary there
were some people who could not see it as anything but a sports show. 

My contact at NHK, Masao Watari, liked my idea and passed it on to someone
doing sports at his company. Eventually I learned that NHK decided to pass,
but while I was in Tokyo I went for dinner with Mr. Watari and he
introduced me to a Japanese distributor. I was able to meet the President
of this company, which brings non-Japanese projects to Japan. In that
interview I gained valuable insights into doing business in Japan. This
group also promised to assist me in my search for a production company in
Japan. At this point such a move would be an expedient way for me to
realize the execution of my work in Japan. 

Mr. Watari also directed me towards the German broadcaster ZDF in Tokyo. I
met with the production team who had just finished a film on the American
sumo Grand Champion Musashimaru. They gave me great advice on how to deal
with the Sumo Association and how I could avoid some of the mistakes they
made in the process of doing their production. Ultimately, personal contact
with Mr. Watari and other NHK representatives at Banff has opened up a lot
of doors for me in Japan. So all in all, going to Banff has been extremely
useful for my present project and possible future ones. 

It has also been an education in other ways. I plan to come back to Banff
next year extremely prepared. I intend to have more than one project on the
go, which will give me a better chance of success at Banff, and I hope to
attend Banff next year with "The Mongolian Falcon" complete and a few more
good ideas to develop while there. Irrespective of how my present project
goes ( I am pretty damn adamant that I will finish it) I have numerous
contacts and ideas that I will be cultivating in the coming year. One last
word of advice for others planning to attend this Festival. Bring lots of
underwear, buy low, sell high and try not to forget your art. 

© 1999 Andrew Whyte, All Rights Reserved