Marat Zhanteliev

For Kyrgyz director Melis Ubukeyev, making a full-length feature film of the Kyrgyz national epic Manas was a lifelong dream. He spent years working with the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan to gather material for the project, which ultimately never came to be. His efforts, though, were not in vain. He made several documentaries about manaschis, the revered oral performers who have preserved the epic for generations through melodic recitation, and in 1995, to mark the 1,000th anniversary of ‘Manas’, he made this captivating essay film, which recounts the epic’s sweeping narrative through breathtaking imagery and opulent costumes, weaving it into a semi-documentary exploration of Kyrgyz history and identity. Ubukeyev wrote, directed and narrated the film himself; it would be his last, as he died only a year later. Once almost impossible to find, the film was digitally restored by the Kyrgyzfilm studio and released in 4K on the studio’s YouTube channel in February 2023.

20s south of Kyrgyzstan. Platoon commander Abysh Isaev arrives at the military garrison. His task, together with the red commander Valentin Ugryumov, is to stop the bloodshed and destruction perpetrated by Shaanazar’s Basmach detachment, and to return the farmers to their homes.

The Russian Descendant of the Snow Leopard is based on a famous Kirghizian folktale. Apparently the Kirghizian folks had plenty of time to tell this story: to print a full synopsis would result in a novelette. Essentially, the story involves a proud group of highland hunters called the Snow Leopards, who in order to survive a brutal winter must request help from the Lowland people. The price for this assistance is the hand of the Snow Leopard's daughter, who is promised in marriage to a wealthy Lowland trader. During the Springtime wedding celebration, the trader becomes fascinated by a stranger who wins all the athletic contests. This "male" contestant turns out to be a woman, who has arrived to seek freedom for her imprisoned husband. The subsequent romance between the trader and the beautiful stranger results in disaster and bloodshed for both the Snow Leopards and the Lowlanders.

Aïdar, a young Kyrgyz man returns home from his studies in France, with a beautiful French fiancée in tow. His fiancée is warmly welcomed by the village and captivated by the beauty of the region, but he stubbornly refuses to tell his family that the two are engaged.

Repak does not get tired of chasing the ghost of a romantic life, although reality proves to him every time that such a life does not exist for him. The fate of the Rappak traces the fate of a whole generation who have not found their place in people's lives.

No synopsis available yet.