The New York Times

MOVIE REVIEW

Nomads Looking for Leftovers, the Precious Kind
‘Price of Gold’ Follows Mongolian Prospectors

By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

For more than a decade, Mongolian nomads have been illegally prospecting for gold in the Gobi Desert, gleaning the leftovers of the international mining companies that own the mineral rights. In “Price of Gold,” the directors Sven Zellner and Chingunjav Borkhuu observe a ragtag crew of five of these wildcatters, piecing together a noncommittal, occasionally surreal portrait of hardscrabble lives and omnipresent risk.

“We take what is ours,” one worker says, his attitude hovering somewhere between shame and defiance. Crudely equipped with battered shovels, an ancient drill and a wheezing, hand-cranked compressor, the crew digs and bickers. Downtime is spent wrestling one another and harassing the cheerful woman who cooks for them (and who has the foresight to hide their knives when they drink). The illicit nature of the work requires bribes of vodka to the police and to possible informants; but, as we see, there are more pressing dangers.

Against a background of saffron dust and violet mountains, Mr. Zellner’s camera peers into a terrifyingly narrow mine shaft and watches as a worker packs dynamite, a cigarette dangling nonchalantly from his lips. Fingers paddling in the mercury that’s used to loosen gold from rock, another man patiently sifts sludge for signs of glinting particles. With few alternative means of generating income, the crew members are pragmatic about the hazards of an operation held together with spit and string, and our explosives specialist isn’t stressed.

“It’s better to die serenely,” he says, confidently. If you say so.

PRICE OF GOLD

ARTE-Dokumentarfilmpreis 2016

director/ editor/ cinematographer: Sven Zellner

co-director: Chingunjav Borkhuu

HotDocs Film Festival 2016· Toronto, Beldocs 2016· Belgrade, FILMFEST MÜNCHEN 2016· Munich · NEUES DEUTSCHES KINO, Brooklyn Film Festival New York, Duisburger Filmwoche 2016, Dokfilmwoche Hamburg 2013, Maximilian Plettau NOMINAL FILM Documentary & Feature Film Production Bayerischer Rundfunk | FFF FilmFernsehFonds Bayern

DIE ZEIT / DOSSIER 12/2018

DIE ZEIT / DOSSIER 12/2018

DIE ZEIT / DOSSIER 12/2018

GEO Ado 01/2017

GEO Ado 01/2017

GEO Ado 01/2017

GEO Ado 01/2017

GEO 02/2016

GEO 02/2016

GEO 02/2016

GEO 02/2016

GEO 02/2016

GEO 02/2016

GEO 02/2016

GEO 02/2016

Delayed Gratification

Delayed Gratification

Delayed Gratification

Delayed Gratification

NIKON PRO

NIKON PRO

NIKON PRO

Leica’s Special Edition 2014 Progresso Fotografico

Leica’s Special Edition 2014 Progresso Fotografico

Leica’s Special Edition 2014 Progresso Fotografico

Progresso Fotografico 2014

RADIALSYSTEM V - Berlin

GEO international 05/2014

GEO international 05/2014

GEO international 05/2014

GEO international 05/2014

GEO international 05/2014

EMERGEMongolen Disko

VIEW 04/2014

VIEW 04/2014

VIEW 04/2014

EMERGE Mongolische Nomaden

DAS MAGAZIN No 10 Tagi-Magi

DAS MAGAZIN No 10

DAS MAGAZIN No 10

DAS MAGAZIN No 10

DAS MAGAZIN No 10

LFI magazine 02/2014

LFI magazine 02/2014

LFI magazine 02/2014

LFI magazine 02/2014

LFI magazine 02/2014 (Leica)

LFI magazine 02/2014

LFI magazine 02/2014

LFI magazine 02/2014

LFI magazine 02/2014

LFI magazine 02/2014

GEO 08/2012

TERRA MATER 12/2012

TERRA MATER 12/2012

TERRA MATER 12/2012

TERRA MATER 12/2012

TERRA MATER 12/2012

TERRA MATER 12/2012

TERRA MATER 12/2012

TERRA MATER 12/2012

GEOlino extra Wüsten

GEO MONGOLIA 2013

GEO Mongolia 4/2013

National Geographic Mongolia

GEOlino extra Wüsten

FOCUS MAGAZIN

KLartext // Das Magazin der Deutschen Journalistenschule
September 2013

KLartext // Das Magazin der Deutschen Journalistenschule
September 2013

KLartext // Das Magazin der Deutschen Journalistenschule
September 2013

KLartext // Das Magazin der Deutschen Journalistenschule
September 2013

Bayerischer Wald - Wo Wildnis erwacht // Tecklenborg Verlag