While the village of Fair Haven celebrates the long weekend of Fourth of July festivities, some of the community took time off the beach Monday night to celebrate a longtime local's release of a new film documentary.
For four generations, movie director Joseph Spaid and his family have spent summers in Fair Haven.
Spaid decided to plan a fundraiser for the village showing his documentary, “Kiran Over Mongolia,” to raise money for next year's fireworks show and village chamber of commerce events.
“I wanted to give something back to this community for all it has done for my family,” Spaid said.
“Fourth of July is Fair Haven's biggest weekend and is a big part of its economic development,” Spaid said.
Spaid opened his film to the public at an afternoon and evening showing at St. Jude's Chapel.
The documentary takes place in Mongolia and follows the journey of a Kazak man training to be an eagle master.
Eagle masters are part of a practice of hunting with eagles that has existed for thousands of years, Spaid said.
Spaid began filming his documentary in 2001.
He and his wife, Anna, who composed the documentary's music, began their search looking for a man who wanted to train to be a Kazak eagle master in Mongolia.
“With documentary's you can have a great topic but no story behind it. We weren't sure we would be able to find someone to follow,” Spaid said.
They began their search for a main character in a dance club in the capital of Mongolia late on a Tuesday night.
After talking to dozens of men, one young man, Kuma, said his grandfather was an eagle master and he had always dreamed of being one.
“We asked if we could follow him during his training and he said yes,” Spaid said. “Kuma learned to trap a wild eagle and then learned to work and hunt with it.”
After years of hunting the eagles are released to the wild.
The documentary is currently on the Film Festival Circuit, with other screenings shown in France and Estonia.
“People are blown away by this nomadic type of living that does not exist in the west,” Spaid said.
“Americans find it beautiful because it's not their way of life.”
Before both 86-minute documentary screenings, falconer Jennifer Pena stood outside the chapel welcoming the audience with a Eurasian Eagle Owl, an animal from close to the area of where Spaid's film takes place.
“We are visiting my parents in Fair Haven. My son Clayton is an animal lover and I thought it would be a great idea to bring him to this screening,” Julia Hill said.
Alan Scott, a falconer from Hannibal, came to the viewing because there is not a lot of publicity about the sport.
There are 200 falconers in the state, Scott said.
Falconers are people who train wild birds to help them hunt.
“It takes about one year for falconers in the U.S. to get both state and federal licenses,” Scott said.
In the Lake Ontario area, red-tailed hawks are the biggest population of birds to train, Scott said.
“The documentary will show the natural cycle of life for a lot of Americans who live off boxed and canned foods,” Spaid said.
“I wanted to show this culture to the western world.”
Staff writer Kristina Martino can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kristina.martino@lee.net
Spaid decided to plan a fundraiser for the village showing his documentary, “Kiran Over Mongolia,” to raise money for next year's fireworks show and village chamber of commerce events.
“I wanted to give something back to this community for all it has done for my family,” Spaid said.
“Fourth of July is Fair Haven's biggest weekend and is a big part of its economic development,” Spaid said.
Spaid opened his film to the public at an afternoon and evening showing at St. Jude's Chapel.
The documentary takes place in Mongolia and follows the journey of a Kazak man training to be an eagle master.
Eagle masters are part of a practice of hunting with eagles that has existed for thousands of years, Spaid said.
Spaid began filming his documentary in 2001.
He and his wife, Anna, who composed the documentary's music, began their search looking for a man who wanted to train to be a Kazak eagle master in Mongolia.
“With documentary's you can have a great topic but no story behind it. We weren't sure we would be able to find someone to follow,” Spaid said.
They began their search for a main character in a dance club in the capital of Mongolia late on a Tuesday night.
After talking to dozens of men, one young man, Kuma, said his grandfather was an eagle master and he had always dreamed of being one.
“We asked if we could follow him during his training and he said yes,” Spaid said. “Kuma learned to trap a wild eagle and then learned to work and hunt with it.”
After years of hunting the eagles are released to the wild.
The documentary is currently on the Film Festival Circuit, with other screenings shown in France and Estonia.
“People are blown away by this nomadic type of living that does not exist in the west,” Spaid said.
“Americans find it beautiful because it's not their way of life.”
Before both 86-minute documentary screenings, falconer Jennifer Pena stood outside the chapel welcoming the audience with a Eurasian Eagle Owl, an animal from close to the area of where Spaid's film takes place.
“We are visiting my parents in Fair Haven. My son Clayton is an animal lover and I thought it would be a great idea to bring him to this screening,” Julia Hill said.
Alan Scott, a falconer from Hannibal, came to the viewing because there is not a lot of publicity about the sport.
There are 200 falconers in the state, Scott said.
Falconers are people who train wild birds to help them hunt.
“It takes about one year for falconers in the U.S. to get both state and federal licenses,” Scott said.
In the Lake Ontario area, red-tailed hawks are the biggest population of birds to train, Scott said.
“The documentary will show the natural cycle of life for a lot of Americans who live off boxed and canned foods,” Spaid said.
“I wanted to show this culture to the western world.”
Staff writer Kristina Martino can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kristina.martino@lee.net
The Citizens' Say
There are No comments posted.