One of the feature-length documentaries nominated at this year''s Academy Awards, "The Story of the Weeping Camel" is a justly-praised
film, one that might not be as powerful as the winning "Born Into Brothels" but moving nonetheless.
"Weeping Camel" is a lighthearted, entertaining and interesting look at a family on the Mongolian frontier who raise camels and goats in the wind-swept Gobi Desert. The plot is simple: when one of the camels gives birth and rejects its baby, the family goes to extraordinary efforts to bring them together, including traveling to the nearest town to fetch a violinist to perform a ritual.
The best thing about "Weeping Camel" is that it is completely appropriate for little children but is also equally engaging for adults. Kids - and adults - who like animals will take great joy in watching the various livestock, and while camels are probably one of the uglier species on the planet, they are also very entertaining to watch. Most enjoyable is the little boy, Ugna, who has the tenacity of any other child in the world, but who, of course, has grown up under severely different circumstances.