East of the West - Competition 2011 / Raj dlja mamy / Kazakhstan 2010
The tale of two Kazakh schoolboys whose father left for Russia in search of work and never came back. On her own, their mother is hardly able to cope with her responsibilities as head of the family. Their grandparents provide a certain amount of support, although the relationships aren’t perfect. A social drama which betrays raw poeticism and strong emotion.
Amir and Serikpai are children of school age. They are growing up in rural Kazakhstan without their father, who went off to Russia in search of work and never came back. Their mother, Polina, is raising them, and they share their home with Polina’s old father and his sister. Without male support, the daily grind is often hard for Polina, and she finds that she cannot cope. The boys are taunted at school by their classmates, but neither shame nor dishonour affects the great love they have for their mother. This film is enhanced by its wonderful cast, and also by its screenplay, written by famous Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf for his Kyrgyz colleague who, this time, chose Kazakhstan as his location. Kubat’s social drama betrays the raw poetic style characteristic for Central Asian cinema, and will delight all viewers who expect a prominent display of pure, strong emotion.
80 min / Color, 35 mm
World premiere
Director Aktan Arym Kubat
/ Screenplay Mohsen Makhmalbaf
/ Dir. of Photography Rafik Galeev
/ Music Renat Gaisin
/ Editor LLP "KUBIK"
/ Producer Sergey Azimov
/ Production Tanaris Production
/ Cast Mikhail Zghilov, Natalya Arinbasarova, Olga Landina
/ Contact B-Tween, Tanaris Production
Aktan Arym Kubat (b. 1957, Kuntu, Kyrgyzstan), also known as Aktan Abdykalikov, studied at the Kyrgyz State Institute of Arts from 1976 to 1980, then worked as an artist for a film studio in Bishkek. He has been directing since 1990. He began making a name for himself with his short film The Dog Was Walking By (It zhugirdende, 1990). The film The Swing (Altybakan, 1993) was awarded the Grand Prix in Locarno and the FIPRESCI Prize in Turin. This was followed by the short film The Stop (Ajaldama, 1995). He competed at KVIFF in 1999 in the East of the West section with the film The Adopted Son (Beshkempir), in which he cast his own son Mirlan in the title role. He also collaborated with his son on the film Maimil (2001). In 2010 he turned out the film The Light Thief (Svet-Ake), screened at Cannes last year in the Directors’ Fortnight section .
B-Tween
9/11, rue Rolland, 93400, Saint-Ouen
France
Phone: +33 149 454 049
E-mail: [email protected]
Tanaris Production
Timiryazev street 73A, 050057, Almaty
Kazakhstan
Phone: +7 727 275 254 5
Fax: +7 727 275 466 9
E-mail: [email protected]
Dariya Azimova
Film Crew, Film Crew
Aktan Arym Kubat
Film Director
Sergey Azimov
Producer
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