This Is What I Remember

This Is What I Remember 2023

1

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?

2023

Ala Kachuu – Take and Run

Ala Kachuu – Take and Run 2020

7.30

A young Kyrgyz woman is kidnapped and forced to marry. A drama about the desire for freedom in the clutches of a tradition.

2020

The Light Thief

The Light Thief 2011

5.10

The main hero of the film is an electrician with a far greater effect on the people around him than his job defines. He is the last link in a huge energetic system and he becomes the binding bridge between the geopolitical problems of post-soviet space and the common people. The economic devastation of the country had an enormous impact on the industrial workers and yet despite the upheaval, these people did not seize to love and suffer, to have and be friends and to enjoy their lives. In particular our resilient electrician, who possesses a wonderful and open heart. He not only brings electric light (which is often out) to the lives of the inhabitants of this small city, but he also spreads the light of love, loyalty, life and mainly laughter.

2011

Jamila

Jamila 1994

1

In the 1940s, young Kirghiz boy falls hopelessly for Jamilla, but their love has no future.

1994

Paradise at Mothers' Feet

Paradise at Mothers' Feet 2024

8.44

In a remote Kyrgyz village, 35-year-old Adil, who has the mind of an 8-year-old, lives with his elderly mother, Rayhan. She has always told him he is specially loved by God and destined for Paradise. But Adil refuses to go without her. Upon hearing from his young friend that a pilgrimage to Mecca on foot could secure his mother a place in Paradise too, Adil decides to embark on this journey.

2024

The Chimp

The Chimp 2001

4.56

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.

2001

Sanzhyra

Sanzhyra 2001

1

Lyrical tragicomedy. The eyes of the young hero, who will go through the rite of circumcision, shows the life of a Kyrgyz village on a holiday day.

2001

Tengri: Blue Heavens

Tengri: Blue Heavens 2008

5.50

This is a love story set in the steppes of Central Asia of today. Temür a thirty year old Kazakh decides to start life again in his ancestral village in the Kyrghyz Mountains. He discovers soon after his arrival that he is a misfit in this settlement of old conservative Islamic men,some women and children. The only ray of hope for him is Amira a young married woman who waits in frustration for her absentee husband - a Mujahideen. Temur watches sorrowfully as the individual village stories unfold at the same as he tries to help the community out in any way he can. In this way he comes closer to Amira and Taib, her young brother-in-law. In a dead end situation the lovers decide to leave the settlement and travel to a place that would hold out with their dreams. Written by Mira Tanna-Händel

2008

The Adopted Son

The Adopted Son 1999

7.10

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.

1999

Burning

Burning 2024

1

In a suburban village, a house belonging to a young family who lost their firstborn catches fire. Neighbors say the house is cursed, as no one understands how the fire started, and witnesses have completely different versions of what happened. However, they all share something in common: the mystery that surrounds the house and its inhabitants.

2024

After the Rain

After the Rain 2019

10.00

Suyun, the beloved, youngest daughter of the Sultanbekova family, mysteriously goes missing one afternoon. A devastating phone call reveals that she has been kidnapped by an unknown man to be his sudden bride. As Suyun is driven further away from her family’s grasp, the Sultanbekovs must now face against all odds—come trial or shame—to bring her back.

2019

Call of God

Call of God 2022

7.00

Anticipation of Love has settled in the heart of a young lady. The boundaries between dream and passion are very elusive. Life is full of physical deprivations and, of course, sensual pleasures, and the deep meaning of that all is Love. The deeper the feeling, the more intense the emotions. Each girl dreams about meeting her love one day. An experienced man helps her discover the world of passion and senses, and brings her to ‘heaven’s gate’ where the two of them will prevail. One can only imagine how many hearts were broken along the way to master the science of love. But passion blinds and soon the man becomes slave to the young woman’s sensual body. The carnal knowledge makes the girl try to subdue her love object. This is what the last film by Kim Ki-duk, shot in summer 2019 in Kyrgyzstan, is all about. The film was finished by Kim’s friends and colleagues after he unexpectedly passed away in December 2020.

2022

Golden Autumn

Golden Autumn 1980

7.00

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.

1980

Karagyz

Karagyz 2003

1

The hardships of modern life for one of the families, unhappy in its own way and at the same time recognizable to others. A husband and wife are fighting and drinking, their eldest son lives on his parents-in-law's money, the middle daughter is a prostitute, and only the youngest daughter, confined to a wheelchair, mute, is watching it.

2003

Far in the Mountains

Far in the Mountains 1958

1

The action takes place on the southern outskirts of the country in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. The film tells about the struggle of the Bolsheviks and Kyrgyz peasants against the rich Bais and Basmachi for a better, just life.

1958

The Song of the Tree

The Song of the Tree 2018

5.30

Esen, a young man who has been expelled from his village, escapes with the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the village. Whilst being pursued, he is forced to fight for her hand in a battle that results in the destruction of a sacred totem tree. This puts the whole village in jeopardy, and it is up to Esen to redeem himself and save them all.

2018

Pure Coolness

Pure Coolness 2007

5.70

Asema, a Kyrgyz city girl visiting her boyfriends family in the countryside, is mistaken for a villager and accidentally kidnapped by Sagyn, a young shepard who was too shy to ask the young girl for marriage.

2007

Epic of Love

Epic of Love 1984

1

Film adaptation of the Kyrgyz folk legend of Raimaly-aga, based on Chingiz Aitmatov's interpretation from his “The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years.”

1984

Munabia

Munabia 2017

1

Munabia depicts the story of a family's frustration, fury, sadness and eventual acceptance of a long term love affair between a widowed father and his mistress. The film is set in rural Kyrgyzstan, where the natural environment, local culture, traditions and political climate all play an integral part in the drama which unfolds.

2017

Anomaly

Anomaly 1992

1

Follows the party worker who gave up his own child, and a young woman who left her baby in the garbage. After 19 years, it can be seen that the same boy and his mother are living together in a drug dispensary.

1992