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

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

Jamila

Jamila 1994

1

In the 1940s, young Kirghiz boy falls hopelessly for Jamilla, but their love has no future.

1994

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

Seide

Seide 2015

5.80

Young Seide lives in a secluded mountain village in the heart of Kyrgyzstan. She loves her freedom to ride her horse, the closest soul she has, and enjoys playing with the village boys. When she is faced with the prospect of an arranged marriage, her family decides to honor the tradition and kill Seide’s horse for the wedding celebration. Upset and feeling voiceless, Seide tries to understand her family’s decision but cannot let her horse be killed. Unfortunately, the horse, like herself, has nowhere to go.

2015

Saratan

Saratan 2005

6.30

Episodic portrait of the absurdities of Kyrgyz village life in the summer.

2005

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 Universe of the Manas

The Universe of the Manas 1995

1

It has been a lifelong dream of Kyrgyz director Melis Ubukeyev to create an elaborate film version of the Kyrgyz national epic 'Manas'. He spent years working with the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan to gather material for this film project, which was ultimately to remain a dream. However, the director's efforts were not in vain: Not only did he make films in 1962 and 1988 about the highly respected Manasçı – folk singers who passed on the epic over countless generations in melodic speech –, but in 1995, on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of 'Manas', he also made a beguiling essay film that not only outlines the plot of the epic with the help of magnificent images and lavish costumes, but also gives a semi-documentary account of the history of the Kyrgyz people interwoven with the myth. Long inaccessible, the essay film has recently been restored by the film studio Kyrgyzfilm and uploaded to YouTube in 4K.

1995

A Father's Will

A Father's Will 2016

1

After living as an immigrant in the USA for 15 years, Azat flies to Kyrgyzstan to his family village. His father, Murat, died in the USA a year ago. It was his dying wish to pay back the money he owed to the villagers. Azat discovers the family home derelict. Choro, the younger brother of Murat, and their relations left a long time ago. Despite most villagers not liking him. One day, Choro, who was imprisoned because of Murat, arrives and the most important question about Murat's will is decided.

2016

The Adopted Son

The Adopted Son 1998

7.09

In a remote Kyrgyz village, Beshkempir, an infant foundling, is taken in by five older women and later adopted by a couple unable to bear children of their own. Fast forward to his early teenage years, a pubescent Beshkempir is faced with all the problems of crushing on girls and courtship, reconciling with friends and dealing with death in the family. Above all he questions his place in the world as an adoptee.

1998

Home for Sale

Home for Sale 2022

1

Loan sharks harass Damir and his family, even to the point of writing “home for sale” on the exterior of their house. Damir desperately tries to borrow money from his relatives, friends, and anyone else he knows; Cholpon also struggles to prevent the worst from happening.

2022

The Birds Of Paradise

The Birds Of Paradise 2006

1

Pati, a student of journalism, decides to shoot her graduation film in Dzhabana in Kyrgyzstan. She is specially interested in the provincial town's vicinity to the nearby state frontier, which plays a major role in many of the townspeople's lives. Shima, Kycha and Baton use a stretch of fallow ground on the border to smuggle goods in their home-made four-wheel drive. Pati bumps into the threesome soon after her arrival in Dzhabana, when she recognizes her freshly stolen camera in the hands of its new owner: Baton. Pati strikes up an ambiguous relationship with the gang. She joins their tours as an observer at first, but soon takes a more active part. Then Shima comes up with a scheme to smuggle a stolen luxury vehicle: a cross-border wedding procession with the bridal couple in the limousine...

2006

Shambala

Shambala 2020

6.00

Based on the story of Chingiz Aitmatov "The White Steamer". In a forest cordon, lost high in the mountains, an old man and an old woman and his daughter live with their family - a husband and a seven-year-old son named Shambala, which means "boy-candle" or "boy who radiates light." Shambhala faithfully believes in the ancient myth of the Mother Deer, who saved the last baby of their kind, Bugu, from enemies and fed him with her milk. And although over time people exterminated the deer, the boy believes that someday the deer will still return to their land.

2020

The Scent of the Wormwood

The Scent of the Wormwood 2022

1

Three teenagers living in a remote village spend their days playing fun. Each of the teenagers in these games forgets about the problems in their family. But adult reality is slowly creeping up on each of them. A reality where dads are fighting with each other for a place in the sun or just getting drunk. And mothers, in pursuit of their fate, sometimes forget about the little ten-year-old happiness left at home. And children who do not know how to pray like birds pray for the happiness of their mother and for the love of their parents.

2022

Under Heaven

Under Heaven 2015

1

Under Heaven, written and directed by Dalmira Tilepbergen, is a modern day re-working of the biblical tale of Cain and Abel, set in a remote mountain village in Central Asia. Two brothers, rebellious Kerim and conscientious Aman, live with their mother and work at the family stonemason business. Their father has been forced to work away in Russia in order to pay off Kerim's debts, incurred as a result of his eldest son's drug dealing activities. The brothers both fall for a local village girl, Saltanat, which ultimately leads to a bitter dispute and unforeseen and tragic consequences...

2015

1000 Dreams

1000 Dreams 2021

6.00

One day, Nazar walks into the studio of his partner’s ex-husband, Arsen. He looks around his computer and finds something that changes his life. Arsen is an artist who creates fictional worlds into which he loses himself. The romance between reality and the imaginary begins. Dreams and fantasies are forever intertwined with life here and now.

2021

Come What May

Come What May 1992

1

Just before their wedding, doctors discover signs of a life-threatening disease in Adam. Not wanting to spoil the life of his fiancee, Adam tries to break off relations with her, but Aisha remains faithful to her chosen one, deciding to share her fate with him - whatever it may be...

1992

Taranci

Taranci 1970

1

A man is walking across the field, his way is barred by the endless train. Suddenly a wonderful stranger appears.

1970

The Devil's Bridge

The Devil's Bridge 1997

1

Life in a Kyrgyz aul (village) in the mountains connected to the rest of the world by a cable bridge, and the teenage boys who are constructing the rope of the bridge. A rope bridge which the locals call “The devil’s bridge” forms part of each and every event which takes place in a small village lost in the mountains of the Kyrgyz Republic. A platform driven by a huge winch which they have to pull with their own strength to cross the torrent is their only link with the outside world. But the director of the documentary wondered something else: “Does this bridge unite or does it actually separate?” Through the mist and over the thrashing waters, the inhabitants of the area glide along their ropes. A film, in the director’s own words, about ordinary people who live in an extraordinary place.

1997