IF ONLY I COULD HIBERNATE

A HOPEFUL DRAMA ABOUT THE RESILIENCE OF A BOY WHO WANTS TO STUDY PHYSICS AND HAS TO STRUGGLE WITH THE MOST DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES

Life on the bread­line in the Mongolian capi­tal Ulaanbaatar is incre­asing­ly con­sum­ing the strength of half-orphan Ulzii. While he ste­als wood at night to at least heat the family’s meag­re yurt in the icy win­ter, during the day he finds less and less strength to take his chan­ces on a phy­sics scho­lar­ship that could save him from the dai­ly strugg­le for sur­vi­val. When his alco­ho­lic mother final­ly lea­ves the fami­ly to find work in the coun­try­si­de, Ulzii is plun­ged into a down­ward spi­ral. The film tells of pover­ty, cohe­si­on and com­mu­ni­ty in a way that is at once tra­gic, hop­eful and at times even humo­rous. The blue-grey colors and sno­wy pan­ora­mas cap­tu­re both the phy­si­cal and emo­tio­nal cold­ness of Ulzii’s life.