Japar Sadykov

The people around Tolen Mamytbekov, a driller in the geological team, didn’t think much of him — he was a disorganized man and fond of drinking. But everything in Tolen’s life changed when he met a modest, hardworking woman — the shepherdess Shaken.

About the Kirghiz aristocracy's attempt to battle the influx of Russian merchants in pre-Revolution days.

Feature made for Kyrgyz television by Melis Ubukeyev (White Mountains).

Kyrgyzstan, the 1920s. In a remote mountain village, against the will of the local elites and in defiance of centuries-old traditions, a woman—Urkuya Salieva—is elected chair of the agricultural cooperative. Salieva is determined to build a new life with an uncompromising resolve against anyone who would obstruct the poor, a stance unusual for a woman.

Ulan follows a sailor whose marriage disintegrates and longs for his younger days on horseback

Sultanmurat is a 14 year old boy who lives in a small Kyrgyz village. All the men have gone off to war so he is left alone to tend to the horses who are weak with hunger.

The forty-year-old commentator, summing up his life and realizing that his well-being is purely external and essentially nothing significant has been done, leaves for his native village, where, he hopes, he will be able to take a step towards his true vocation.

The Russian Descendant of the Snow Leopard is based on a famous Kirghizian folktale. Apparently the Kirghizian folks had plenty of time to tell this story: to print a full synopsis would result in a novelette. Essentially, the story involves a proud group of highland hunters called the Snow Leopards, who in order to survive a brutal winter must request help from the Lowland people. The price for this assistance is the hand of the Snow Leopard's daughter, who is promised in marriage to a wealthy Lowland trader. During the Springtime wedding celebration, the trader becomes fascinated by a stranger who wins all the athletic contests. This "male" contestant turns out to be a woman, who has arrived to seek freedom for her imprisoned husband. The subsequent romance between the trader and the beautiful stranger results in disaster and bloodshed for both the Snow Leopards and the Lowlanders.