PORTUGAL/CANADA/ITALY | 2025 | 96’ and 52’ minutes
Available with English and French subtitles

Directed and written by Inês von Bonhorst & Yuri Pirondi
Produced by Inês von Bonhorst, Yuri Pirondi, Fabio Saitto, Paul Cadieux, Tânia Neves

Spirit Animal is an intimate and visually striking exploration of Mongolia’s nomadic life at a moment of profound transformation. Against the vast steppes and rugged mountains, three families navigate a world reshaped by climate change, globalization, and modernization.

One family, once proud horse-breeders, confronts the collapse of their way of life after losing their herd to devastating dzuds—harsh winters intensified by climate change. Forced to leave the open steppe, they adapt to life in the crowded Ger districts of Ulaanbaatar, carrying fragments of their heritage.

In the Altai Mountains, eagle hunter Borkut faces a generational tension between tradition and modernity. His older son drifts toward city life, questioning the relevance of their ancestral ways, while his younger son remains deeply connected to the eagles, a fragile thread of continuity.

A third family embodies the nomadic spirit at its purest, constantly moving across the steppes, resisting the pressures of a world in rapid change. Their journey highlights resilience, courage, and adaptability, reflecting the struggle to preserve a vanishing way of life.

Through these families, Spirit Animal transcends cultural portraiture to pose urgent questions: as nomadic ways of life disappear, are we losing our connection to nature? The film meditates on survival, identity, and the compromises demanded by global forces, offering a poetic reflection on what it means to remain human in a transforming world.

The Makkina (Picturesque Choice) is a bold film production company dedicated to transforming powerful stories into unforgettable cinematic experiences. Founded in London and now based in Lisbon, the company has built a strong international presence with collaborators across the globe. Driven by authenticity, creativity, and courage, The Makkina believes cinema is more than entertainment, it is a tool to explore the human condition and inspire social change. Its films are recognized for their emotional depth, thought-provoking narratives, and distinctive visual language. With a portfolio that spans cinema and advertising, The Makkina continues to push boundaries, challenge conventions, and create stories that resonate worldwide, leaving a lasting impact on audiences.

Inês von Bonhorst is a Portuguese film director and visual artist, internationally acclaimed for her poetic, visually rigorous approach that bridges documentary, fiction, and contemporary art. She trained in Film at the University of Westminster and Multimedia at the University of Kent (UK), building extensive experience in cinema and auteur-driven projects. Co-founder of the Magma Collective and the TOR Collaboration Project, she has developed experimental works presented at the Barbican Centre, Sadler’s Wells, and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Her co-directed feature documentary Spirit Animal won First Prize at Biografilm Festival Industry Days and secured direct entry to IDFA. Inês is currently developing A Balada de Lélé and Eu Sou Amazónas, continuing to explore pressing social and ecological themes through a singular cinematic vision.

Yuri Pirondi is an Italian film director and visual artist, internationally recognized for his innovative work blending documentary, fiction, and experimental visual practices. Trained in Italy, he developed his career in London as a director and cinematographer on numerous independent films and creative projects. With Inês von Bonhorst, he co-founded the Magma Collective and the TOR Collaboration Project, creating experimental works showcased at institutions like the Barbican Centre, Sadler’s Wells, and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Yuri co-directed Spirit Animal, winner of First Prize at Biografilm Festival Industry Days and direct entry to IDFA. His current projects include Marés Turvas, A Balada de Lélé, and Eu Sou Amazónas, reflecting his commitment to socially and ecologically urgent cinema with striking poetic vision.

Paul Cadieux is one of Canada’s leading and most active film and television producers. Among numerous other accolades, he has won a Genie Award for Best Motion Picture for the two-time Oscar‑nominated Les Triplettes de Belleville (Cannes Film Festival).

In his more than three decades as a producer, co-producer, executive producer and distributor, Paul has often preferred to operate out of the limelight while remaining centrally involved in dozens of major Canadian and international projects ranging from children’s animation series, thriller features films, romantic comedies, travel shows, reality programming, international co-productions, feature documentaries and TV series in both English and French.

Through his umbrellas, Megafun Productions Inc. and Filmoption International Inc., along with his extensive in-house equipment rental company and state-of-the-art post-production facilities, Paul has long prided himself on being well-positioned to be able to have a significant impact on projects he feels are both creatively and commercially viable and to provide the missing elements to advance a worthy production.

Among his many award-winning productions, we can find Danae Elon’s P.S. Jerusalem (TIFF and Berlin 2015), Shimon Dotan’s The Settlers (Sundance 2016) and Left Behind America for PBS/Frontline, Advocate and GAZA, both selected at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, as well as Ido Mizrahy’s The Longest Goodbye (Sundance 2023) and Tünde Skovrán’s Who I Am Not (SXSW 2023).

Anyone looking for a pattern in Paul Cadieux’s varied production and distribution work will invariably note that quality, high production value, respecting budgets and matching the marketplace’s needs are consistent qualities of his overall creative and commercial output.

In a field where the dual elements of creative passion and experienced production know-how almost always go hand-in-hand, Paul Cadieux brings a wealth of both to any and all productions he puts his full commitment, heart, experience and resources behind.

Maryse Rouillard founded Filmoption International 45 years ago. She dedicated her career to the making of documentary films and series with compelling gstories that engage audiences in challenging political and social views.

Over the course of her career, she acted as a producer, co-producer andexecutive producer on over 70 documentary films, 80 television series and 38 animated films and series. Recently, she was instrumental to the success of culturally important feature documentaries such as Antismetism(2020) a feature documentary that traces the origins of antisemitism in France from the Middle Ages to the Dreyfus Affair, Gaza(2019) which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, represented Ireland at the Oscars and went on to play at over 100 festivals, Advocate(2019) which also premiered at Sundance, was shortlisted at the Oscars for Best Documentary and won an Emmy for Best Documentary, and In the Desert (2018) an ambitious diptych and a profound journey which challenges our perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Her films have been broadcasted on all major networks such as CBC, Radio-Canada, PBS, Channel 8, TV5, ARTE, Bravo, TFO, TVA and Historia. She is currently finishing post-production on War on Science, her third collaboration with director Ilan Ziv.

Fabio Saitto is an Italian producer specializing in films, documentaries, and TV series. He is known for tackling complex contemporary issues with an approach aimed at raising awareness and bringing about change. Founder of the production company Point Nemo, Fabio collaborates with emerging directors and international productions to bring universal stories with strong social and environmental impact to the audience, distinguished by their attention to visual storytelling.