Atirkül in the Land of Real Men

Atirkül in the Land of Real Men 2023

5.20

In the vast plains of Kyrgyzstan, men have been cultivating a group sport with a long tradition. The aim of the game buzkashi is to steal the trophy of a dead goat from the rival team of riders, all while staying on horseback. Into this tough masculine world enters Atirkül, a woman with an enterprising spirit and a sense of humour. The film follows the everyday life of the headstrong horse lover Atirkül, whose ambition is to build her own buzkashi team of local young men to preserve the heritage of her native region. The ethnographic perspective alternates with a purely personal one, gradually revealing the possibilities of overcoming gender roles

2023

Deal at the Border

Deal at the Border 2024

1

At the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan border, Aza and Samat work as members of a drug trafficking organization. One day, they run into Nazik, who has narrowly escaped from human traffickers.

2024

The Fierce One

The Fierce One 1973

4.60

A boy raises a wolf cub, but when released into the wild, it returns to attack him.

1973

Call of God

Call of God 2022

6.90

Anticipation of Love has settled in the heart of a young lady. The boundaries between dream and passion are very elusive. Life is full of physical deprivations and, of course, sensual pleasures, and the deep meaning of that all is Love. The deeper the feeling, the more intense the emotions. Each girl dreams about meeting her love one day. An experienced man helps her discover the world of passion and senses, and brings her to ‘heaven’s gate’ where the two of them will prevail. One can only imagine how many hearts were broken along the way to master the science of love. But passion blinds and soon the man becomes slave to the young woman’s sensual body. The carnal knowledge makes the girl try to subdue her love object. This is what the last film by Kim Ki-duk, shot in summer 2019 in Kyrgyzstan, is all about. The film was finished by Kim’s friends and colleagues after he unexpectedly passed away in December 2020.

2022

Pure Coolness

Pure Coolness 2007

5.70

Asema, a Kyrgyz city girl visiting her boyfriends family in the countryside, is mistaken for a villager and accidentally kidnapped by Sagyn, a young shepard who was too shy to ask the young girl for marriage.

2007

Tengri: Blue Heavens

Tengri: Blue Heavens 2008

5.50

This is a love story set in the steppes of Central Asia of today. Temür a thirty year old Kazakh decides to start life again in his ancestral village in the Kyrghyz Mountains. He discovers soon after his arrival that he is a misfit in this settlement of old conservative Islamic men,some women and children. The only ray of hope for him is Amira a young married woman who waits in frustration for her absentee husband - a Mujahideen. Temur watches sorrowfully as the individual village stories unfold at the same as he tries to help the community out in any way he can. In this way he comes closer to Amira and Taib, her young brother-in-law. In a dead end situation the lovers decide to leave the settlement and travel to a place that would hold out with their dreams. Written by Mira Tanna-Händel

2008

Centaur

Centaur 2017

6.12

Centaur lives a modest life with his family in rural Kyrgyzstan until he abruptly becomes the center of attention when he is caught stealing a racehorse at night. A story inspired by the myth when horses became the wings of men.

2017

Queen of the Mountains

Queen of the Mountains 2014

5.80

At a time when most females in Asia possess little or no power over their lives, headstrong Kurmanjan Datka defies her family's authority -- and ultimately becomes the ruler of her native Kyrgyzstan region.

2014

The Light Thief

The Light Thief 2011

5.40

The main hero of the film is an electrician with a far greater effect on the people around him than his job defines. He is the last link in a huge energetic system and he becomes the binding bridge between the geopolitical problems of post-soviet space and the common people. The economic devastation of the country had an enormous impact on the industrial workers and yet despite the upheaval, these people did not seize to love and suffer, to have and be friends and to enjoy their lives. In particular our resilient electrician, who possesses a wonderful and open heart. He not only brings electric light (which is often out) to the lives of the inhabitants of this small city, but he also spreads the light of love, loyalty, life and mainly laughter.

2011

This Is What I Remember

This Is What I Remember 2023

1

An amnesiac old man Zarlyk who after twenty-three years of ordeal in a foreign land, returns to his homeland. Events take place in a village in Kyrgyzstan, where he is brought by his matured son Kubat. Much has changed during his absence: the morals of the villagers, mired in the realities of a changing world, radicalization of Islam, growing crime, and moral corrosive corruption began to consume... Zarlyk’s wife Umsunai, having lost hope of his return, went into religion, married the local authority Jaichy. The bright past invades the already accustomed Umsunai’s life. But nothing touches Zarlyk. An inexplicable passion for collecting garbage replaced him everything. Will the memory return to him and will Umsunai gain lost happiness when they are pressed by tight attitudes and immorality of the clergy, when love has eclipsed recklessness?

2023

The Move

The Move 2014

6.00

In the village, in a small house by the river, an old man lives with his granddaughter. They live a simple life in harmony with the extensive nature. One day, the man’s daughter, living in the city and doing everything in order to survive in an hostile social environment, comes home and asks him to sell a house and move to live with her in the city.

2014

The Song of the Tree

The Song of the Tree 2018

5.30

Esen, a young man who has been expelled from his village, escapes with the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the village. Whilst being pursued, he is forced to fight for her hand in a battle that results in the destruction of a sacred totem tree. This puts the whole village in jeopardy, and it is up to Esen to redeem himself and save them all.

2018

The Mountain Wagtail

The Mountain Wagtail 2023

1

Young Altyn eagerly leaves pastoral life behind for the modern comforts of the capital, but soon finds a corrupted society clashing with the values of her ancestors when confronted with an unexpected pregnancy. Mine development, melting glaciers and the loss of tradition are prominent symptoms of the current transformation of Kyrgyzstan, a country not often represented on the big screen.

2023

Suleiman Mountain

Suleiman Mountain 2017

6.20

After his long-lost son is suddenly thrust back into his life, a charismatic con artist takes to the road with his two wives, swindling everyone they encounter along their path.

2017

Paradise at Mothers' Feet

Paradise at Mothers' Feet 2024

8.30

In a remote Kyrgyz village, 35-year-old Adil, who has the mind of an 8-year-old, lives with his elderly mother, Rayhan. She has always told him he is specially loved by God and destined for Paradise. But Adil refuses to go without her. Upon hearing from his young friend that a pilgrimage to Mecca on foot could secure his mother a place in Paradise too, Adil decides to embark on this journey. Paradise at Mothers' Feet explores a mother's love, human kindness across cultures, and the shared spirit that transcends hardship.

2024

Amateur

Amateur 1987

1

After a serious conflict with the editor of a local newspaper, journalist Temir Ataev began working as a teacher at a boarding school for children of shepherds. The first difficulties did not frighten Temir. Captivated by his new work, Ataev was able to win over the children, who were mostly from disadvantaged families, and restore order in the teaching staff.

1987

Take and Run

Take and Run 2020

7.50

A young Kyrgyz woman is kidnapped and forced to marry. A drama about the desire for freedom in the clutches of a tradition.

2020

Anomaly

Anomaly 1992

1

Follows the party worker who gave up his own child, and a young woman who left her baby in the garbage. After 19 years, it can be seen that the same boy and his mother are living together in a drug dispensary.

1992

The Chimp

The Chimp 2001

4.90

The Chimp is the nickname of a teenage boy (with large ears) who lives in the small town of Balyktchy, Kirghizstan, a former part of the USSR in central Asia. His family is being torn apart by his dad's alcoholism, his emotions are being torn as he sees his friends pair off into couples, and his job working on the railtracks is uninspiring.

2001

Men without Women

Men without Women 1981

1

A team of rescue workers do what they can in the desperate situation left by an earthquake in the Kyrgyz mountains.

1981