“Vecherniy Bishkek”: films from Kyrgyzstan became Winners of the International Film Festival

20/10/2020 20:00

In Smolensk (Russia) finished the 5th Festival of documentary films of the CIS countries “Eurasia.DOC”. The works of Kyrgyz Directors have got awards of the Festival.

The current festival was held with the financial support of the Interstate Fund for humanitarian cooperation of the CIS member States (IFHC). Its contest program was divided into several thematic blocks: “The 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War” (this topic became the central one on “Eurasia.DOC”), “They are around” - works about children and adolescents with special needs, “Man. The Truth of Life” - included films showing life as it is - not always simple, but still not hopeless, filled with sometimes poorly understood meanings, “Man, Society, Politics” - a block that combined quite problematic pictures from different countries.

Andrey Belyaninov, Secretary General of the International Union of non-governmental organizations “Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly” said in his welcoming speech to the participants: “At present, attempts to falsify and de-heroize the history of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War have become more frequent. They try to belittle the heroic achievements, the decisive role and contribution of the peoples of the Soviet Union to the Victory over fascism. To counteract this trend of thoughts and actions is one of the tasks that the Festival sets and solves by means of documentary films. I am glad that we have made new friends and like-minded people in your person today.”

“Over the five years of the Festival, - said Valery Shekhovtsov, the program Director and President of the “Studio Third Rome” Production Centre. - I have seen that interest in documentary films is growing, especially among young people. The genre of documentary films did not become a kind of creative watershed between generations, as some critics predicted. Young people are interested in documentaries, young people make documentaries, and the demand for “documentary truth” is high among young people. That is why there are a lot of young people among the authors of the Festival “Eurasia.DOC” and the short film contest “Eurasia.DOC: 4 minutes”.

In total, according to Shekhovtsov, 596 applications from 32 countries were submitted to the Festival over the past five years. The finalists were 114 films from 23 countries, including Kyrgyzstan.

This time, Kyrgyzstan was awarded a special Diploma “The Best Portrait Film”, the film “Sunflower” directed by Chyngyz Sulumbekov. The film “Far Away” directed by Ainaz Turdumatova was awarded the winner's Diploma.

“A lonely old man lives in an old trailer. Every day he works in the field and every day he tries to call someone. Listening to the next beeps, he tells us about his life and love...” - this is the film “Sunflower”.

“10-year-old Samat, despite his age, helps his family. He also helps his grandmother look after his siblings, as mom and dad work in Russia. Many Kyrgyz children find themselves in such a difficult life situation,” – this is the synopsis for the documentary “Far Away”.

Source