Nearly 100 film projects apply for state support

The best scripts for planned films are being selected in Kazakhstan. According to the State Center for Support of National Cinema, nearly 4.5 billion tenge (US$10.4 million) will be allocated to finance the most interesting projects this year. More than 100 applications have already been received.

“We are not here to give preference to a particular project. We will consider all submitted films, regardless of the ideas of the creative society itself. Nowadays the Kazakh cinematography has great opportunities to make films on various topics. This year, like last one, priority is given to historical and educational films, as well as children’s and social movies,” said Abzal Mukhimov, Deputy Chairperson, the State Center for Support of National Cinema.

Filmmaker Askar Uzabayev, well-known for his comedies and melodramas, beloved by Kazakh people, also decided to take part in the competition. He presented the script of a satirical movie on a hot topic.

“This is a satirical comedy. I think this is the topic of the day. It’s about a government official who had stolen a lot. He escapes from the Anti-corruption Agency, hides in a village and realizes that this is one of the villages that he was ripping off. He sees everything that he actually did himself. He sees now how poorly people live there. I was inspired by the relevance of this topic. I really want to fights this, I really want to make a movie that will be screened, that will expose all these problems with the corruption, which then do no good,” said Askar Uzabayev, a filmmaker.

The state has allocated more than 11 billion tenge (US$25.4 million) to support national cinematography over the past three years. 48 films were financed in total.

 

Translation by Saniya Sakenova

Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova