Svetlana Slapke: Works of Chingiz Aytmatov are now even more Relevant

Screenings of film adaptations of Chingiz Aytmatov's works continue at the 14^th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival. This retrospective programme of the festival is dedicated to the 90th anniversary this famous Kyrgyz and Soviet writer. A quest of the Kazan Muslim Film Festival, Svetlana Slapke, a film critic, the founder of the branch of the Chingiz Aitmatov Foundation in Germany introduced this parallel program of the festival.

The program of the retrospective includes the films: My Girl with the Red Scarf by Atif Yilmaz (Turkey, 1977), A Spotted Dog Running By The Seaside by Karen Gevorkyan (USSR, 1990), Jamilya by Irina Poplavskaya (USSR, 1969), Mankurt by Hojakuli Narliyev (USSR, Turkey, Libya, 1990), Run of a Pacer by Sergey Urusevskiy (USSR, 1968), Mother  Earth by Gennadiy Bazarov (Soviet Union, 1967) and White Steamer by Bolotbek Shamshiev (USSR, 1975).

Svetlana Slapke said that it was an incredibly difficult task to make a selection of films for this programme: 'There are over 50 film adaptations and it was required to select only a few to fit into the schedule of a parallel programme. It was necessary to focus on the most vital criteria’.

She also said about the activities of the Chingiz Aitmatov Foundation in Germany as well as growing interest in Soviet writers in Eastern Germany. The works of Aytmatov were translated in German by a special team of translators.

‘Thanks to Aytmatov, the world learned more about Kyrgyz culture. The writer was popular in the USSR and abroad, describing carefully and colourfully the life and tradition of Kyrgyz people. He also managed to touch universal human issues shared by other cultures and countries. He always emphasized that it is necessary to focus on bringing people together rather than dividing them’, added Svetlana Slapke.

Svetlana Slapke also mentioned that the interest in works by Chingiz Aytmatov is growing: ‘Yesterday, Mankurt was screened within the framework of the Kazan Muslim Film Festival. I realized now current the film is, when I watched the film with fresh eyes, feeling the reaction of the spectators and admiring the questions asked after the screening. It seems that this film was shoot this year, so current it was’. She also announced that a new film of joint Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan production based on Aytmatov novel to be released soon.