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Film · Mongolia · 1911

Independence: The Keeper of the Decree

Mongolia sends its 1911 independence epic to the Oscars. B. Tamir’s true drama follows five men who rose from the steppe after two centuries of Qing rule.

Mongolia’s entry for99th OscarsBest International Feature

The road to the Oscars

  1. 1911The storyFive men rise from the Mongolian steppe after two centuries of Qing rulePress kit
  2. 2026The filmB. Tamir’s true drama, 154 minutes, made by SkyMedia CorporationPress kit
  3. 09.28The voteThe National Selection Committee closes its voteFilm Council
  4. 10.02AnnouncedNamed Mongolia’s submission for Best International FeatureFilm Council

The story

Mongolia has chosen “Independence: The Keeper of the Decree” as its submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards. The Mongolian National Film Council’s selection committee closed its vote on 28 September, and the Council says the film stood out for its artistic quality, its technical execution and the way it tells a significant chapter of the country’s history.

The film is set in 1911. Its press kit tells the story in three sentences: after two centuries of Chinese Qing rule, five men rose from the Mongolian steppe with one dream, independence. Their victory gave birth to a nation. The price was tragic.

“Their victory gave birth to an independent nation, but freedom came at a tragic price.”

From the film’s press kit

The makers call it a true drama. The screenplay is by the novelist Todko Samson, who also signs as T. Myagmartogtokh, and the film was produced by SkyMedia Corporation. It is in Mongolian and runs 154 minutes.

From the film

A man in a dark robe with his arms spread wide in a hall of red columns
B. Tamir as Namnansüren.
A man in a red robe at a low table laid with food
G. Erdenebileg as Chin Van Khanddorj.
An older woman in a blue headscarf holding a wooden bowl
N. Suvd as Queen Nasanjid.
A man in a dark robe embroidered with a golden dragon, prayer beads around his neck
B. Tamir, who directs the film.
A man in a tall red-tasselled hat smoking a long pipe
A man smokes a long pipe.
A man in a dark robe in a hall lit in blue
A man in a dark hall lit in blue.

The director

Behind the camera, and in front of it

Tamir Bat-Ulzii, credited as B. Tamir, directs the film and plays Namnansüren in it. He was born in Ulaanbaatar in 1986 into a family of artists: his father is the stage director O. Bat-Ulzii, his mother the actress S. Sarantuya. He graduated in acting from the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture in 2008.

At the State Academic Theatre of Drama he played more than twenty roles, from Rosencrantz in Shakespeare’s Hamlet to the Chorus Leader in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Duremar in Tolstoy’s The Golden Key. He directed his first short, Amingoo, in 2009, and has since written and directed a run of features, among them Top Secret: Baitag Bogd and the ZURA films. He now produces, directs and acts at Fantastic Production in Ulaanbaatar.

2019 · Cinema Awards
Best Director
2018 · Mongolian Academy Awards
Best Director
2017 · Silver Tree Awards
Best Director
2009
First short film, Amingoo

Who plays whom

  • NamnansürenB. Tamir
  • Chin Van KhanddorjG. Erdenebileg
  • Dilov KhutagtE. Todgerel
  • Queen NasanjidN. Suvd
  • Queen TsogtdariS. Sarantuya
  • SersenA. Ganchimeg
  • Guangxu EmperorO. Temüüjin

Facts, credits and stills: the Mongolian National Film Council’s press release and the film’s press kit, sent to Cinepuuulse on 2 October 2026. The film belongs to SkyMedia Corporation.