“If only we could hibernate like bears in the winter, never get cold, never catch the flu,” says Ulzii’s younger brother. Ulzii’s family lives in a hut in Ulaanbaatar. His mother has gone to the countryside for work, leaving the youngest with her relatives. Ulzii, a teenager, is left to take care of his two younger siblings. Stubborn yet clever Ulzii dreams of winning the national physics competition to attend university and become an engineer, but finding firewood to heat his home is a problem every winter. Thanks to the neighbors, who tell the boy that it’s okay to cry, the story of the three siblings’ harsh winter unexpectedly warms the audience’s heart. With this debut feature film, which balances cool-headed reality with warmth, Purevdash Zoljargal, a Mongolian filmmaker and alumna of the BIFF Asian Film Academy, was invited to Un certain regard at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. (CHOI Eun)