The Light Thief

Hassan Hussen

Aktan Abdykalikov's simple, clear-eyed poetry finds an elemental form here. Two twin brothers are walking down the road carrying a pail of water, they fight and come to blows, and a bemused older man intervenes and sets them back on their way. It's that simple and it's that lovely. A graduate of the Art School of Kyrghyzstan, Aktan Abdykalyko (or Abdikalikov) first worked as a set designer for Kirgisfilm. After several well-received documentaries and short films, his first feature-length fiction film, Beshkempir, won several awards including the Silver Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival.

Persecution

20s south of Kyrgyzstan. Platoon commander Abysh Isaev arrives at the military garrison. His task, together with the red commander Valentin Ugryumov, is to stop the bloodshed and destruction perpetrated by Shaanazar’s Basmach detachment, and to return the farmers to their homes.

Bus Stop

A puzzling fable about human relations inspired by Samuel Beckett (in Kyrgyz, beket means station). At a bus stop amid a snowy winter landscape, people wait. A boy, an adult, and an old man are at first joined by a woman, and then a disruptive drunk.

The Adopted Son

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.

I Do Not Allow the Catastrophe

The plot is based on events that took place during the severe drought of the early 1970s at the construction of the Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Station. The commissioning of the station's first phase was complicated by the fact that the water needed to start it was also desperately needed by the parched fields. There were many debates (with both personal and professional ambitions involved), and in the end, the problem was solved purely mathematically—rather than by agricultural engineering: salty water from the Kyrgyz Sea was diverted to the fields, while clean mountain river water was directed to the first turbines.

Where's Your Home, Snail?

A river reflects everything without carrying it away. But time — it takes everything away without reflecting anything... A story about teenagers in Kyrgyzstan.

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.

Heavenly Nomadic

A family of nomads lives in the remote high mountains of Kyrgyzstan...

Kelin

A woman is led by her family to her new husband's home, to live with, presumably, his elderly mother and younger brother. Despite being forced into the marriage, she discovers that he is not such a bad catch after all but domestic bliss does not last long.

The Swing

The second film by Kyrgyzstani director Aktan Arym Kubat (then credited by his Russian name Aktan Abdykalykov), it is the first of his autobiographical Kurak ("Quilt") Trilogy, followed by Beshkempir (The Adopted Son, 1998) and The Chimp (2001). Идиллия детства, радости, игры разрушается с возвращением в маленькое горное село моряка. В прекрасный мир девушки, мальчика и юродивого врывается великолепная морская форма с клешами и бескозыркой, и волшебная морская ракушка - источник всех их будущих бед.

Black Red Yellow

The craft of carpet weaving in Kyrgyzstan boasts a long and legendary history, and is an integral part of local life. Turdugul, known as the most skilled carpet weaver in the valleys, spent years practising this craft in solitude. That was until Kadyr the horse herder entered her life, sparking a long-overdue romance that ultimately ended in a wordless farewell – leaving only an unfinished carpet behind. Years later, when the black, red and yellow patterned carpet was unfurled at his funeral, memories slowly unfolded in her heart like woven threads.

The Chimp

The Chimp is the nickname of a teenage boy (with large ears) who lives in the small town of Balyktchy, Kirghizstan, a former part of the USSR in central Asia. His family is being torn apart by his dad's alcoholism, his emotions are being torn as he sees his friends pair off into couples, and his job working on the railtracks is uninspiring.

Mother's Paradise

Serikpai and Amir grow up without a father, who once went to work in Russia, but never returned. They are waiting for him and hoping. Waiting for her husband and wife Polina. She remembers the short happiness of her former life. She tries to resist the current life, but it is given to her at too high a price…

The Shelter for Majors

How a Boy Saved His City

As his city faces the threat of being conquered by an evil lord, a brave boy decides to take matters in his own hands.

This Is What I Remember

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?

Running Out of Time

Police inspector and excellent hostage negotiator Ho Sheung-Sang finds himself in over his head when he is pulled into a 72 hour game by a cancer suffering criminal out for vengeance on Hong Kong's organized crime syndicates.

Thief

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Nobleman crusader Robin of Locksley breaks out of a Jerusalem prison with the help of Moorish fellow prisoner Azeem and travels back home to England. But upon arrival he discovers his dead father in the ruins of his family estate, killed by the vicious sheriff of Nottingham, Robin and Azeem join forces with outlaws Little John and Will Scarlett to save the kingdom from the sheriff's villainy.

Lower City

Best friends Deco and Naldinho co-own a cargo boat in Brazil's Salvador da Bahia. They give a ride to a sultry prostitute named Karinna, and soon both men fall prey to her considerable sexual charms, pushing the bounds of their friendship to the limit.

Far North

In the arctic, as Saiva is being born, a shaman declares that she is evil and will bring harm to all who become involved with her. Saiva is cast out of her tribe of herders and grows up to live a nomadic existence with Anja, a young woman she adopts as an infant. Then Loki, an injured and starving soldier, stumbles into their isolated lives. The women nurse him back to health, but treachery, violence and doom await them all.

The Holy Mountain

The Alchemist assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept's intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their worldly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.

The Kid Brother

The timid youngest son of the most important family in town must use his wits to win the respect of his strong father and the love of a beautiful new woman in town.

Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum

Prasad and Sreeja are a couple planning to set up a new life in Kasargod. On a bus journey they end up being robbed by a thief also named Prasad and this lands them up in a police station.

Plunkett & Macleane

Will Plunkett and Captain James Macleane, two men from different ends of the social spectrum in 18th-century England, enter a gentlemen's agreement: They decide to rid the aristocrats of their belongings. With Plunkett's criminal know-how and Macleane's social connections, they team up to be soon known as "The Gentlemen Highwaymen". But when one day these gentlemen hold up Lord Chief Justice Gibson's coach, Macleane instantly falls in love with his beautiful and cunning niece, Lady Rebecca Gibson. Unfortunately, Thief Taker General Chance, who also is quite fond of Rebecca, is getting closer and closer to getting both.

Friday After Next

Craig and his cousin Day-Day have finally moved out of their parents' houses and into their own crib, working nights at a local mall as security guards. When their house is robbed on Christmas Eve they set out to track down the culprit.