Days of Kyrgyz Cinema of Hungary

The films are screening in their original language with English subtitles. Admission is free of charge.

1. "Shambala" full-length feature film

Date: 16 november 2023 (Thursday) 1.30 pm (by invitations);
17 november (Friday) 4 pm
Venue: Cinema room

Director: Artyk Suyundukov
Script writer: Artyk Suyundukov based on the story "White ship" by Ch.Aitmatov
Genre: Drama
Running time: 86 min.
Actors: Artur Amanaliev, Nasret Dubashev, Talant Apyev, Jamilya Sydykbaeva.
Production: National Film Studio "Kyrgyzfilm" named after T.Okeev.
Year: 2020

Synopsis: On a forest cordon, lost high in the mountains, an old man and an old woman live with a patriarchal way of life, as well as the daughter of a Sarik with her husband, and a boy - the grandson of the old man. A peculiar model of society. Four adults and the fifth is a seven-year-old grandson of the old man named Shambala. In Kyrgyz "Sham" means "candle" and "bala" means "boy", "child", i.e. literally "candle boy" or "boy radiating light". Shambhala piously believes in the ancient fairy tale-myth of Mother Deer, who saved the last baby of their Bugu clan from enemies and nourished him with her milk. Despite the fact that over time people have exterminated the reindeer, the boy believes and expects that one day the reindeer will return to their land.

2. “Sagynbai manaschy” full-length feature film

Date: 16 november 2023 (Thursday) 4 pm
Venue: Cinema room

Director: Ernest Abdyzhaparov
Script writer: Ernest Abdyzhaparov
Genre: Historical-biographical
Running time: 88 min.
Actors: Askhat Sulaimanov, Omurbek Izrailov
Production: NK "Kyrgyzfilm" named after T.Okeev
Year: 2022

Synopsis: The Soviet authorities instruct Ybrai Abdrakhmanov to put Sagynbai Orozbakov's version of the epic "Manas" on paper, but then forget about it. For four years, Ybrai managed to record only the first part of the trilogy, because the version of Orozbakov's Manas epic was so voluminous. Having learnt about the formation of the Kyrgyz Republic, Abdrakhmanov decides to introduce the narrator to the new leaders and receive material support. Abdrakhmanov promises Sagynbai Orozbakov that at last he will be honoured and his deprivation will end, but the new authorities not only do not honour the narrator, but do not even bother to listen to an excerpt from the story. Having been reprimanded for delaying the assignment, Abdrakhmanov and Orozbakov return to the large and half-starved family of Sagynbai, where the outstanding narrator dies suddenly.

3. "Ak-keme" (White ship) full-length feature film

Date: 17 november 2023 (Friday) 2 pm
Venue: Cinema room

Director: Bolotbek Shamshirev
Script writer: based on the book "Ak-keme" (White ship) by Chyngyz Aitmatov.
Genre: Drama
Running time: 90 min.
Actors: Sydygaliev Nurgazy, Kүmүshalieva Sabira, Kutmanaliev Orozbek, Kuttubaev Asankul, Ayturgan Temirova, Mambetova Nazira, Dumanaev Chorobek, Kүүkova Darkul.
Production: National Film Studio "Kyrgyzfilm" named after T.Okeev.
Year: 1975

Synopsis: Nurgazy is a lovable little boy living on a remote forest farm in the mountains with a small immediate family. He is preparing to start school, a time to take his social skills learned at home and applying them with new people in The City. The theme is the tension between home traditions and modern ways. But as the story progresses, there are sharper tensions within both sides; some traditional ways are balanced, while others are harmful, and some modern notions are enlightened while others are simply heedless and greedy. Every member of the family needs to balance the energies within themselves, and find a place in the social network. Along the way, some but not others manage to also find the enchantment of everyday life when it knocks at the heart in revelations small and great. Nurgazy is a catalyst for everyone’s personality, drawing out the best or worst in each of them. Their responses to him reminded me of a mousetrap game from my childhood, where a shiny steel marble starts out at one corner of a maze. The player has to tilt, shake, rattle and roll the marble home through obstacles of spirals and chutes and slides. Here the bright marble is Nurgazy, setting out radiant and excited on a week of adventures while his family mousetraps his actions, words, voice, and dreams. Childhood derailed is nothing new; it’s a sadly familiar theme in any culture. What adorns this film is the child’s insatiable appetite for bonding, and ability to draw on beautiful traditions from Kyrgyzstan which bear him up and save his spirit if not his life.