BAIQONYR International Film Festival Kicks Off in Almaty

Astana, The Gulf Observer: The eighth BAIQONYR International Film Festival kicked off in Almaty and will run until Sept. 10, the festival announced on its Instagram page.

With a mission to support young, talented filmmakers, the festival has sustained itself without state financial support.

Over the years, BAIQONYR has celebrated 85 filmmakers from Kazakhstan and globally, from Tbilisi to Yakutsk and from Tashkent to Lisbon.

The festival opened with a screening of the film “Brothers” by Darkhan Tulegenov. The full-length debut received awards at international festivals, including a special jury prize at the prestigious Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany. The film is slated for release later this fall.

An out-of-competition screening will include “The Trail” by Mikhail Kulunakov, another film director who had previously participated in the festival’s short film competitions.

BAIQONYR’s two main competitions involve an international feature and documentary short film competition that will screen 18 movies from six countries and a national competition with 20 films.

Almaty Animation Festival, a separate event of the BAIQONYR, will feature the main contest, screening 21 films from four countries and one co-produced by Russia, France and Canada, as well as an international competition of student-made animation films showcasing 23 works.

An extensive out-of-competition program will include the second forum of film experts and film critics from the Commonwealth of Independent States, bringing together more than 20 participants from different countries. The forum will include lectures by well-known masters, roundtables on topical issues of the film industry, and presentations of new projects.

Another highlight of the out-of-competition program is the Bucheon International Animation Festival scheduled for Sept. 8, a part of a broader special project on Korean-Kazakh animation.