The Eagle Huntress Documentary Flies High at Sundance, Will Be Made Into Animated Feature Starring Daisy Ridley

It looks like the documentary Daisy Ridley joined to Executive Produce that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival is about to soar even higher!

Sony Pictures Classics got the North American rights (as well as distribution rights in Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Germany, Scandinavia and Asia) to The Eagle Huntress, which was the first documentary to premiere in the Sundance Kids portion of the festival. Deadline Hollywood describes its awesome, girl-centric story like this:

The Eagle Huntress is the true story of Aisholpan, a Mongolian girl who strives to become the first female Eagle Hunter in 2,000 years of male-dominated history. Under the tutelage and support of her father and her grandfather, she learns all aspects of this ancient tradition. That included her being dropped by rope into the nest of an eagle, where she captured a baby from a nest, taming and raising that eaglet and training it for the annual Golden Eagle Festival, which involves competing against male Eagle Hunters from all over the country.

The film is set in the Altai Mountains of Northwestern Mongolia, the most remote part of the least populated country on Earth. While the landscape is pristine, the isolation has created a society that always considered women too fragile to hunt with an eagle. Aisholpan set out to change that.

Daisy Ridley joined the film as an Executive Producer, using her clout to boost the visibility of the film (and it worked! You’re reading this right now, aren’t you?), and she will be narrating the documentary when it’s released. But the story of Aisholpan isn’t stopping there.

Several companies are currently fighting it out for the rights to turn The Eagle Huntress into an animated film. Regardless of what company picks it up, Ridley will be providing the voice of Aisholpan!

It’s pretty awesome that Ridley came across the story of this amazing girl and is helping to boost the story far and wide. Will you be checking out The Eagle Huntress?

(image via Sundance Film Festival)

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