Erke Dzhumakmatova and Emil Atageldiev’s gritty drama Kurak is set to be the first France-Kyrgyzstan co-production in two decades, following an agreement signed between CNC and Kyrgyzstan’s Cinema Department in Cannes.
Based on true events, the film touches on the disempowerment of women against the background of the patriarchal society of modern-day Kyrgyzstan. It is set in the capital Bishkek, using locations where the real events took place.
The story revolves around a young girl secretly working as a webcam model who is forced to enter into an intimate relationship with a law enforcement officer and a mother whose young daughter commits suicide who struggles to get a fair investigation of the son of a powerful politician.
Through Oymo Studio, co-director Dzhumakmatova is also the main producer of Kurak, an international collaboration co-produced with France’s Johann Chapelan of Girelle Production, along with Kairat Birimkulov from Switzerland’s KBP and Katerina Tarbo-Ignatenko of Spirito Libero LLC, which has offices in France and Serbia.
Co-producers are Milos Djukelic of Serbia’s Red Production and Pavel Feldman of the Netherlands’ Human Films.
Atageldiev previously directed The Lake, which was produced by Dzhumakmatova and co-written by the duo. It premiered at Shanghai International Film Festival in 2020, where it was nominated for the Asian New Talent Award.
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