Discoveries from Kazakhstan World Cinema

With the support of Contemporary Art Norway

The story of growing up and making the first important decisions in the life of two teenagers whose fathers left them. Karim is a hooligan who loves bullying the weak. His next victim is Arthur. People consider him mentally disabled because of his dumbness and call him “chicken” because he goes to the store every day to steal eggs.

A story about a girl named Nina who decides to leave the “Island”, where she was born and spent her entire life, for “City”, which is radically different from everything she is used to.

How should we remember catastrophic events? And what remains in people’s memory when their stories are silenced? All the Dreams We Dream is a hand-drawn animation based on the memories of those who endured famine in Qazaqstan in the 1930s. Based on two memoirs retold by poet Gafu Kairbekov, it seeks to explore questions of empathy and fear, asking how stories of violence and pain should be recounted in the modern age.

In a modest family of a fishing village, the father of the Kadyr family dies. He is drowned on the boat of the local wastrel Makosh, who threatens the wife of the deceased that if they do not repay the debt for the sunken ship. The widow Sarah tries to find a way out of the situation, but her plans fall apart with the arrival of Kadyr’s brother.

Scandalous ruinous article is about to be published by a journalist. Main protagonist Anuar and his gang are hired to kill the journalist. The night ours story takes place Anuar witnesses a family scene between the journalist and his son, morally torn Anuar has to make a difficult choice whether to commit a murder on a person who has a son and a wife, just like him.

A long time ago, through the fault of people, a snake wakes up, which gradually turns into a dragon. The snake crawls out of the cave and begins to sweep away the nearby auls, devouring the inhabitants, giving rise to unprecedented fear. And only one golden eagle enters the fight to protect its chick. In this fight, the golden eagle wins and the snake disappears into its cave. The golden eagle, taking its chick, flies far away. And the snake remains hiding in its den, biding its time. Years pass, and the snake crawls out of the cave again ...

Experimental film about the desert and the sea.