DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

The most profound moments of my life have been spent sitting at

the table sharing food, sharing stories, with someone from a culture different than my own. Travel can offer us this rich crossroads for connection. But my experiences have left me with many questions: How do local people want tourism to look in their community? Do local people actually want tourists? And why are there so few women leading?

 

The answer to these questions will vary town to town, person to person. But in Sagsai, Mongolia, the answer looks like a long-form travel initiative led by local women: the Khusvegi English & Nomadic Culture Camp. As they design this program and invite outsiders on their terms, I’m thrilled by what this model has to offer travelers, locals, and the future of the travel industry.

 

Anna Marie Brannon

 

THE STORY

Marinel M. de Jesus is a first-generation Filipina immigrant who left her 15-year career as a civil rights attorney in Washington D.C. to become a mountain nomad. While leading treks across the globe in places such as Nepal, Peru, and Tanzania, she learned about injustices faced by local porters and vowed to advocate for their rights, going so far as to cancel her guided trips on the Inca Trail until conditions were improved. As part of her mission to dismantle and rebuild an industry influenced by colonialism and fueled by profit, she finds herself reimagining a new type of slow-travel partnership: one of mutual exchange between hosts and travelers that is led by local women in Sagsai, Mongolia.

 

The seeds of this partnership were planted in 2020 when Marinel found herself stranded in Mongolia for 294 days during the Covid-19 pandemic. With nothing to do and nowhere to be, Marinel ended up teaching English classes in the nomadic community of Sagsai while living with local English teacher Bakhitgul Altay, who opened up her home in an act of radical generosity. Through their unexpected friendship, The Khusvegi English & Nomadic Culture Camp was born.

 

WHY IT MATTERS

This four-week English teaching program is coming to life in the summer of 2022. It promotes a mutually beneficial cultural exchange experience over traditional forms of extraction, which typically profit external companies at the expense of local communities. The Culture Camp aims to give young Kazakh nomads the opportunity to practice their language skills with English speakers while allowing travelers to immerse themselves in the traditions of nomadic culture.

 

For Bakhitgul, the main goal of the camp is to preserve her culture by helping local youth see the value in passing their traditions from generation to generation. Through learning the English language, they will have the ability to introduce their unique traditions to the world on their terms.

 

In a season when we’re still grappling with how the pandemic has dramatically shifted the trajectory of lives across the globe, and as a story that highlights women who are leading the way in developing equitable, local-led travel experiences, the timeliness of this piece cannot be overstated.

 

THE PLAN

As one of the first participants of the program, I will be staying in the rural community of Sagsai, experiencing the program first-hand. I plan to shoot as much as possible the first few weeks and then bring a small crew from the capital Ulaanbaatar to stay with us July 3rd - 10th. They will bring equipment to film interviews and b-roll of the camp and the community.

 

Once the film is complete, our plan is to distribute the piece through outdoor and travel-focused documentary film festivals such as Mountainfilm , Banff Mountain Film + Book Festival, and No Man’s Land.

 

WHAT WE NEED

To hire local crew members and cover the cost of their gear, transportation and lodging, we have to raise 10k ASAP. Our total goal, however, is 20k. The additional 10k will cover post-production (translation, edit, color, sound) and distribution costs.

 

THANK YOU

We are so excited about the potential for this film to highlight the Culture Camp and the nomadic traditions of Sagsai, draw attention to the problem of extraction and exploitation within the travel industry, and celebrate local women leading. We hope you'll join us in bringing it to life.

 

Anna, Marinel, and Bakhitgul


About the Director:
Anna Brannon is a Photographer and Director from St. Louis, Missouri, currently living in Los Angeles. Her diverse living experiences in the U.S. and abroad have cultivated an interest in learning from and elevating stories from unique perspectives while being a conscious storyteller. On any project, she values working with people who uplift, include, and fight for a more just and sustainable world. She entered the film world through editing, and loves the process of sifting through interviews and piecing together a story that is just waiting to be told. You can find her storytelling work here: https://vimeo.com/236241924 and here: https://vimeo.com/518167894. 

About the Camp: 
To read more about the Khusvegi English & Nomadic Culture Camp and the founders Marinel and Bakhitgul, you can view their page here: https://www.browngaltrekker.com/mongolia/khusvegicamp