The Wolves Always Come at Night

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The Wolves Always Come at Night
The Wolves Always Come at Night poster.jpg
International promotional poster
Directed by Gabrielle Brady
Written byGabrielle Brady
Davaasuren Dagvasuren
Otgonzaya Dashzeveg
Produced byJulia Niethammer
Ariunaa Tserenpil
Rita Walsh
StarringDavaasuren Dagvasuren
Otgonzaya Dashzeveg
CinematographyMichael Latham
Edited byKatharina Fiedler
Music by Aaron Cupples
Production
companies
Chromosom Films
Guru Media
Over Here Productions
Storming Donkey Productions
WeirAnderson Films
Distributed byCinephil
Madman Entertainment
Release date
  • 8 September 2024 (2024-09-08)(TIFF)
Running time
95 minutes
CountriesAustralia
Germany
Mongolia
LanguageMongolian

The Wolves Always Come at Night is a 2024 docudrama film co-written and directed by Gabrielle Brady. [1] Its portrays the lives of Davaasuren Dagvasuren and Otgonzaya Dashzeveg, a Mongolian couple who are forced to abandon their familiar lives as shepherds and move to Ulaanbaatar after their livelihood is disrupted by climate change. [2]

Contents

The film had its world premiere at the Platform section of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September, [1] although Dagvasuren and Dashzeveg were unable to secure travel visas to attend the screening. [3] It was also selected as the Australian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. [4]

Release

Brady first pitched the project at the Visions du Réel film festival in 2021. [5] In advance of the premiere, it was acquired for commercial distribution by Cinephil. [6]

The film premiered at the Platform Prize competition of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. It was subsequently screened in competition at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival. [7] The film was screened at the CPH:DOX 2025 documentary film festival in PARA:FICTIONS section in March 2025. [8]

Critical response

For Point of View , Rachel Ho wrote that "The Wolves Always Come at Night is a slow burn by design — Brady maneuvers us quietly through the ebbs and flows of Daava and Zaya’s personal internal conflict so that we feel every detail and beat with depth rather than a passing superficiality. The universality of Daava and Zaya’s situation can be felt by families and communities around the world with less emphasis being placed on lifestyles connected to the land and earth and focus pushed on the commercialism of city life becoming increasingly common. It’s in the specificity and vulnerability of Daava and Zaya, and the willingness with which they allow audiences into their lives, that offers us the chance to take a 30,000 foot perspective and breaking us free from our own socio-economic bubbles." [1]

Sabina Dana Plasse of Film Threat wrote that the film "begs the question of the mental instability of those directly subjected to climate change, what is happening in this world, and how we are all connected spiritually to nature. Watching a family uproot their lives and be displaced is difficult, even more so in a foreign land. However, the filmmakers made great efforts to seamlessly provide an emotional understanding of this remote place that relates to all viewers, no matter where one is from. One minor but clever element is the folk songs used throughout, which acutely reflect what is happening. Overall, this is a cinematic journey that unfolds leisurely yet engagingly and offers caution to what might be on the horizon." [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rachel Ho, "The Wolves Always Come at Night Review: Universality in Mongolia’s Countryside". Point of View , September 14, 2024.
  2. ↑ Phuong Le, "The Wolves Always Come at Night review – melancholy meditation on a lost way of life". The Guardian , December 30, 2024.
  3. ↑ Etan Vlessing, "Mongolian Doc Subjects Denied Visas to Attend Toronto Film Festival". The Hollywood Reporter , September 4, 2024.
  4. ↑ Goodfellow, Melanie (2025-09-23). "Oscars: Australia Submits 'The Wolves Always Come At Night' For Best International Feature Film Race". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 2025-09-24.
  5. ↑ Ann-Marie Corvin, "Tribeca Award Winners Gabrielle Brady, Julia Niethammer on Mongolian-Set Climate Change Project". Variety , April 16, 2021.
  6. ↑ Leo Barraclough, "Cinephil Acquires Toronto Title ‘The Wolves Always Come at Night,’ About Herding Family in Mongolia, Clip Debuts". Variety , August 6, 2024.
  7. ↑ Mona Tabbara, "BFI London Film Festival unveils full 2024 line-up". Screen Daily , September 4, 2024.
  8. ↑ "The Wolves Always Come at Night". CPH:DOX . 19 March 2025. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  9. ↑ Sabina Dana Plasse, "The Wolves Always Come at Night". Film Threat , September 9, 2024.
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