4 Kazakhstani short films to be screened in Cannes
Directed by Kazakhstani filmmakers, Pearl, Asan, Hide and Seek and The News will be screened at the Short Film Corner, the essential rendez-vous for filmmakers organized by the Festival de Cannes.
The first short, The News, directed by Assel Aushakimova stars Adiya Mussina and Aygerim Mustafa. It focuses on a conversation between two sisters before one of them departs.
Hide and Seek tells the story of two little girls whose light childhood goes dark every time it contacts with the world of adults. Directed by Venera Kairzhanova, the film follows the girls in their attempts to hide in the sunny world from stark realities of life.
Kazakhstani actress Adiya Mussina who starred in both Hide and Seek and The News said ‘it is gratifying to know that both short films were directed by female filmmakers'.
"2017 saw the global film industry turning its face to the problem of a woman. More female directors brought more female-centric stories to the screen," Adiya Mussina said.
She expressed hope that if the films' creators and actors will get a chance to attend the film festival in Cannes, they will get knowledge, exciting experience and inspiration for the future works.
The third short film, Asan is the story of a typical teenage boy directed by Berik Zhakhanov. The 27-minute short film focuses on the lead protagonist of the film, Asan, who lives by rules of the streets. He fights and gets in troubles with the police. Asan is raised by a single mother as they don't live with their father. The film narrates what happens when one morning Asan learns of his father's death and has to go to his funeral.
Directed by Alma Baimuratova, Pearl stars Elyse Mirto and Chopper Bernet in leading roles. The 16-minute Kazakh-American drama is about a collision of pain: emotional and physical. It takes the audience to the small world of hospice where the hospice nurse discovers in her newest cancer patient her long-lost-love, 20 years later.