Tallinn Black Nights Grand Prix Winner Sengedorj Janchivdorj Returns in Competition With ‘The Muralist’

TALLINN, Estonia Mongolian filmmaker Sengedorj Janchivdorj is back in competition at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival with “The Muralist,” one of 16 world premieres in the main section. One of Mongolia’s most acclaimed and prolific filmmakers, Sengedorj won the festival’s Grand Prix in 2024 for “Silent City Driver,” which has gone on to represent Mongolia in the international feature film category at 2026’s 98th Academy Awards. A visually striking meditation on art, memory, and reconciliation, “The Muralist” is the film Sengedorj says he always wanted to make: “I’ve been making movies for over 20 years. One of my secret and biggest dreams was to make a movie about an artist. In my other movies, there was always an artist in the background. This time, the muralist is the main character,” he told Variety. The film follows Bayaraa, a once-successful muralist who returns to Mongolia after years living in Europe with little else than a box of paints, a rooftop tent and his loyal stray dog. Day after day, he works to transform an abandoned factory wall into a sweeping mural of mythical Mongolian landscapes, which contrast with the surrounding green hills and creeping urbanization. As demolition looms and a group of Japanese tourists take an interest in his art, Bayaraa is forced to face the ghosts of the family he left behind, under the watchful presence of a balloon tethered to him. Shot by longtime collaborator Nergui Erdenekhuyag, “The Muralist” features Sengedorj’s trademark poetic imagery. It is a loose adaptation of “Picture of the Soul,” a romantic novel by Mongolian author Khishigjargal Dashdorj, who co-wrote and executive produced the film. At its core, the film grapples with a dilemma every artist faces, said the director: “To choose between art or life. Bayaraa chose art but [his life] is not balanced and that’s why he regrets it. But I don’t want to tell the audience what to think, I want to leave it up to them to decide,” he says. Symbolizing the blurred line between art and everyday reality, the balloon changes color with Bayaraa’s mood as he confronts his past, which unfolds in nostalgic black-and-white flashbacks. The score, by Italian-educated Mongolian composer Tsolmonbayar Munkhtovch, also reflects this evolution, as uplifting piano solos make way for a gently nostalgic cello-violin-piano trio. Sengedorj says he found his lead actor, B. S. Bayinerile, in Inner Mongolia after a long search. “The character of Bayaraa is very introverted, he speaks little. It’s as if it’s raining inside every time he meets with his daughter, it rains. That sadness, all of those emotions, had to be reflected in the actor’s eyes and his face.” Japan-based Mongolian actress Ishiyama Gegeenzaya plays Bayaraa’s long-lost daughter. Production was brisk but intensive, spanning July and August 2024. The film was shot on location in an abandoned Soviet factory on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, with interior scenes filmed in one of Mongolia’s large Russian-era stages. Looking ahead, Sengedorj says he has completed the script for his next film which he describes as an ambitious love story set during an art festival in Italy. The director’s return to Tallinn’s main competition underscores the growing visibility of Mongolia’s cinema, boosted in recent years by funding from the country’s new National Film Council. Films like “If Only I Could Hibernate” (Cannes 2023) and “City of Wind” (Venice Orizzonti 2023) have brought global attention, while shorts such as “Snow in September” have won top prizes at Venice and Toronto. Co-produced by Javkhlan Sonomdorj and Lkhamdulam Dashdorj, with Khishigjargal Dashdorj as executive producer, “The Muralist” premiered on Nov. 19 at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. The main competition winner will be announced Nov. 21, with the festival wrapping on Nov. 23.
https://variety.com/2025/film/global/tallinn-black-nights-sengedorj-janchivdorj-the-muralist-1236587241/