Hamid Sardard

Hamid Sardar is a writer, photographer and award-winning filmmaker based in Paris. He earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University in Sanskrit and Tibetan Studies and participated in the National Geographic expedition that discovered the hidden falls of the Tsangpo River in Tibet in 1999. Most recently, he has dedicated his time to exploring Mongolia and bringing awareness to the plight of her various nomadic traditions through his award-winning photography and films. His documentary film The Reindeer People was awarded Best Film on Culture at the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Canada (2004), Balapan was awarded Best Film on Culture at both the Telluride Film Festival (2006) and Banff (2006), Tracking the White Reindeer received the awards for Best Film on Culture at Banff (2008) and Taïga received numerous international film awards including the prestigious FIPA “Gold” (2015) in France. His most recent feature The Horse Tamer (Mountainfilm 2022) is set in the Darhat Valley of northern Mongolia and follows the disappearing horses of the nomad tribes. Between tribal rivalries, smuggling and traditions, Sardar wonders what horse stealing says about modern-day Mongolia.