In the cold steppes of Mongolia, while scouting locations for her previous films, first-time director Jiang Xiaoxuan stumbled upon the story of a man caught between his life as a herdsman in the countryside, increasingly difficult with unpredictable weather changes, and his life as a showsman in the city, performing an idyllic and entertaining version of a herdsman to foreign audiences. For her debut film, Jiang built a fictional story based on the man’s life, and persuaded him to interpret the film version of himself, with no prior acting experience. What emerged was a modern, sensible and honest Western, a story about the fear of a man and a community losing grip on their livelihoods and trying to navigate an ever more uncertain world seeping in from the outside. Filmed with grace and vibrancy, shooting some colorful shows in contrast with some bleak landscapes, To Kill a Mongolian Horse is one last plea for a life that should not need be sacrificed.