Synopsis: A look at the intrepid riders taking on the challenge of the longest annual charity horseback ride on the planet. With 12 riders and their Mongolian ground crew it is an adventure laced with all the unpredictable twists that only Mongolia can throw at you. Magnificent horses, amazing culture, and epic adventurers make this a captivating & heroic story of horse people from around the world helping the people from the last surviving horse culture on the planet.

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The Gobi Gallop is an annual 10 day, 700 kilometer, horseback trek in Mongolia with participants from around the world coming together to ride and raise money for The Children of the Peak, a kindergarten located in the Ger district of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. The kindergarten was built to alleviate the harsh reality of disadvantaged children who otherwise would be scavenging on the garbage dump nearby. The opportunity to make a film of the ride in Mongolia was presented to me by Julie Veloo from the Veloo Foundation after a mutual friend shared with her my name and expertise.

As a first-time filmmaker, and someone who was fortunate enough to travel to Mongolia to film this extraordinary ride, I wanted to make sure the story stayed true to the actual events as they unfolded. For this reason, The Gobi Gallop falls within the style of participatory documentaries with a large emphasis on observational filmmaking. The majority of the footage was taken as an observer. An observer of the kindergarten, the ride, and the gala (the event that concludes the ride). To further this, the narration was created from the voices of the participants to hear what they themselves were experiencing, feeling, and thinking.

Spending three weeks in Mongolia and sharing the experience of the Gobi Gallop with the riders, guides, and crew, I witnessed the significance of this event in raising funds for the kindergarten. For the film, I wanted to share with the audience the true weight of this ride in addition to an insight into the picturesque Mongolian landscape and resilient Mongolian culture.

This film would not have been possible without the kindness, strength, and welcoming of the Mongolian guides and crew, the international riders, the composer of the original score, Jacob Veloo, and the founder of the Gobi Gallop, Julie Veloo.

Bree von Bradsky

Bree von Bradsky is a freelance videographer and video editor traveling the world. She gained a bachelors degree from William Smith college in May of 2016, where she majored in both Anthropology and Media and Society. Upon graduating, Bree worked for the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls as the videographer for the Oral Histories being conducted of inductees. In November of 2016, Bree bought a one-way ticket to Mongolia, leading to almost two years of living and traveling around Asia with her home base being Hanoi, Vietnam. She has worked on various small projects in Vietnam, including promotional videos for the Humanitarian Services for Children of Vietnam. Filming The Gobi Gallop for the Veloo Foundation brought her back to Mongolia for a second time and is her first feature length film and acted as the director, videographer and editor. Currently, Bree is traveling New Zealand.

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