The Opening Film of the 14th Kazan Muslim Film Festival Was Shot in a Month and Ten Days

The meeting with the film crew of the opening film of the festival, Sayakbay. Gomer of the 20th Century was held within the framework of the 14^th Kazan Muslim Film Festival. A director Ernest Abdyzhaparov, a producer Aibek Ibrayev and a Kyrgyz TV presenter and actress Assol Moldokmatova attended the meeting.

Sayakbay. Gomer of the 20th Century is dedicated to the life and work of Sayakbay Karalaev, one of the greatest narrators of the Epic of Manas. The film also reflects an episode of the life of a writer Chingiz Aitmatov, whose 90th anniversary is widely celebrated in Russia and the CIS countries this year. The plot of Sayakbay is built around the meeting of Sayakbay Karalaev with Chingiz Aitmatov and his subsequent memories about the narrator.

The film won the award of the Montreal Film Festival for visual innovation in transmitting oral traditions.

Ernest Abdyzhaparov, the director of the film, answering the questions of the audience after the screening, noted that: ‘In our work, we were accompanied by either the spirit of Manas or the spirit of Chingiz Aitmatov. The weather was so nice, and the work was going very fast, so we were able to finish the shooting in one month and ten days’.

As a tradition, the guests were presented Chak-Chak and Tatar traditional slippers from the organising committee of the festival in the end of the meeting.

The photo report of the event is available here