Finding Mother

The Song of the Tree

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.

Dzhamilya

In a remote Kyrgyz village, Dzhamilya follows her parents' orders when she marries a man without loving him. Then World War II breaks out and her new husband has to leave the village. While being alone, Dzhamiliya meets the returning soldier Daniyar and falls in love with him instead. Years later, their young friend Seid reminisces about the couple.

Bishkek, I Love You

The film is dedicated to the capital of Kyrgyzstan - Bishkek and its young people. They have dreams how to find their ways in life. There is a couple which meets after 5 years of separation in the airport and she finds out that he has a wife and kids. There are 2 candidates for a job, but one is a son of rich and established family, so he got the place through family connections while a poor guy stays jobless. There are a grandson and grandfather who broke a vase and try to find another one, so the mother/daughter would not notice the loss. It is all about our life, nice daily stories of a small town citizen.

I Lit the Fire!

The plot of the movie brings two people together - an immigrant filmmaker from Belarus and a 10 years old girl from the village in the south of Kyrgyzstan.

A Father's Will

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.

Centaur

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.

Kurak

Based on true events, several stories about disempowerment of women, are closely intertwined, affecting to each other's, unfolding against the background of the traditional, patriarchal society of modern-day Kyrgyzstan ultimately result in a series of tragic outcomes. The realities of modern-day Kyrgyzstan, despite the status of a "secular state", are violence, hypocrisy, and widespread infringement of the rights of women who are stay a socially unprotected part of the population. Under the conditions of aggressive propaganda of both patriarchal and radical, religious ideology, the ideas of feminism in Kyrgyzstan are equated with the popularization of LGBTQ communities, are openly criticized and the justice system, in most cases, takes the side of murderers and rapists.

Sanzhyra

Lyrical tragicomedy. The eyes of the young hero, who will go through the rite of circumcision, shows the life of a Kyrgyz village on a holiday day.

How to Marry Gu Jun-pyo?

K-drama-obsessed student Aliya is in love with the Korean actor Lee Min-ho, whom she often refers to as Gu Jun-pyo (his most popular K-drama character). Her nemesis, Aizhan, challenges her to fly to South Korea and even marry him before the end of the semester, or Aliya will have to drop out of the university. However, a cute emo boy stands in her way...

The Poet: Becoming

An evocative animated film on the life and works of the great Kyrgyz poet Alykul Osmonov.

Dzhura

The end of the 1920s — the beginning of the 1930s in Kyrgyzstan. Parts of the Red Army are waging an uncompromising struggle with basmachi in Central Asia. The film tells about the formation of the character of the young Kyrgyz hunter Djura, who found himself in a swirling whirlpool of revolutionary events that swept the Pamirs. It shows the hard way from a simple young hunter, entangled in centuries of prejudice, to a conscious, seasoned in many battles with the Basmachi mature fighter, who believed in the great ideas of the revolution.

Kookor: A Leather Vessel

The kookor is a type of leather flask which has been used by Kyrgyz people for centuries. In this parable, an old kookor finds itself confronted with the realities of modern life and has to make a choice as to whether to adapt or stay true to its essence.

Aslanbek

We get to meet Aslanbek—a teenage shepherd in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. “Aslanbek” is a story exploring the dynamics of relationship between humans and animals, what we can learn from the mountains, and about dreams. In short, it's a story about our forgotten values.

We're Going the Same Way

At the non-places of this world lie the struggles of nobodies, to improve, overcome and survive. Their struggles suffocate them, they forget to live. They dislocate them, bring them together and pull them apart. Father and son share simple dreams and a lifetime on the road. Along an unromantic Silk Route they try to make some come true. Searching for a more livable future they break apart. As working class heroes they accept their fate. The film examines the added value of honesty in our actions.

Castles in the Sand

One of the highest achievements of the new wave of Kirghiz cinema, which emerged in the mid-1960s. This story of a boy building sandcastles on the shores of the Issyk-Kul Lake becomes a documentary parable on the tensions between an artist and society.

Kirgistan - Hochgebirgsland voller Schätze

Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan

In the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan, tradition is king. Polo's still played with a freshly killed goat and the men still marry their women the old-fashioned way: by abducting them off the street and forcing them to be their wife. Bride kidnapping is a supposedly ancient custom that's made a major comeback since the fall of Communism and now accounts for nearly half of all marriages in some parts.