Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The Spirit of the Forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.
«18 Kilohertz» refers to a sound frequency that adults cannot hear. The film focuses on the realities which faced teenagers in Kazakhstan in the late 90s, at the time of the drug boom in Almaty. It tackles one side of the conflict between the child and his parents leading to his alienation and flight from home. What makes the teenager prefer romantic asphalt streets to the cozy parental home?
A film about the feat of 17 soldiers of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan (now the National Guard), who died on April 7, 1995 on the Tajik-Afghan border while protecting the external borders of the CIS.
Dina works as a journalist for the national television station. The stories she is asked to report on are becoming increasingly absurd and full of praise for the government. Her love life is limited to a few secret meetings with her married cameraman. Dina looks after her young sister, a lesbian activist, who regularly finds herself in trouble with the authorities.
A young hero defeats a dragon to find acceptance to the court of burgundy.
Laughter and Grief by the White Sea is a 1987 Soviet traditionally animated feature film directed by Leonid Nosyrev made at the Soyuzmultfilm studio. The film is a celebration of the culture of the Russian Pomors who live around the White Sea.
The film is about a young man who was born on the day when Kazakhstan gained its long-awaited independence. The guy's memories start from childhood. The events in his personal life are closely intertwined with what the whole country was going through.
The story follows Fang Hui's carefully planned routine, however, he discovers that he cannot throw off the grip of fate. He will have to face the death of the being he loves the most, even if he tries to avoid fate, even if there are thousands of plans, he cannot escape the arrangements established by life.
The story of Oedipus' gradual discovery of his primal crime, killing his father and marrying his mother, filmed by the famed British theatrical director Sir Tyrone Guthrie. This elegant version of Sophocles' play adds a brilliant stroke: the actors wear masks just as the Greeks did in the playwright's day.
A very free adaptation of Marlowe's 'Doctor Faustus', Goethe's 'Faust' and various other treatments of the old legend of the man who sold his soul to the devil. A nondescript man is lured by a strange map into a sinister puppet theatre, where he finds himself immersed in an indescribably weird version of the play, blending live actors, clay animation and giant puppets.
Utilizing the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, the epic Indian tale of exiled prince Ramayana and his bride Sita is mirrored by a spurned woman's contemporary personal life, and light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets.
Cheong, a Chinese man, falls sick after a row with his neighbour. His wife Yan is desperately looking for a remedy to cure her husband. Throughout the journey, Yan endures strange encounters and unearthly experiences. Finally, Yan is convinced that she should seek help from the village shaman. Mysteries, legends and shamanism surround Yan with unknowns yet to be solved.
Batyrbek, failed the entrance examination to college, returned home to his native village. His younger brother Ayan Batyrbek decides to help start an independent life - to build a new house and find a suitable bride.
A Kazakh spy thriller: In 1921, at the height of the civil war, a Soviet officer is assigned to kill the ataman Dutov, a White collaborator. In order to get close to the ataman he infiltrates his gang.
Osman is a jealous and proud gentleman. Zala, who must have married him at a young age is unhappy. Avci, caught in a storm and had to take refuge in his hut, is an attractive young man who knows how to take advantage of his environment.
Aragón, Spain, early 20th century. María del Pilar is a honest girl whose good name is dirtied when an old suitor seeking revenge accuses her of losing her virginity outside of marriage. The scandal soon spreads throughout the countryside.
Based on a local legend and set in an unknown era, it deals with universal themes of love, possessiveness, family, jealousy and power. Beautifully shot, and acted by Inuit people, it portrays a time when people fought duels by taking turns to punch each other until one was unconscious, made love on the way to the caribou hunt, ate walrus meat and lit their igloos with seal-oil lamps.
In the mountains of the Basque Country, a mother and her daughter take shelter in a ruined hut that seems uninhabited.
An old man decides to find the body of his son, a Kazakh soldier who died fighting somewhere in Russia, to bury him in the land of his ancestors. Travelling across the land with his grandson, they discover the harsh reality of war. And when they finally find the coveted grave, they realise that many brothers-in-arms are buried with the soldier. Every inch of the great homeland becomes the land of our fathers, the land of the ancestors...
Young lovers Orfeu and Eurydice run through the favelas of Rio during Carnaval, on the lam from a hitman dressed like Death and Orfeu's vengeful fiancée Mira and passing between moments of fantasy and stark reality. This impressionistic retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice introduced bossa nova to the world with its soundtrack by young Brazilian composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim.