― 20 ноября 2023 г.

First International Film Festival of Bishkek

The "1st Bishkek International Film Festival" started in Kyrgyzstan. Turkey was the first guest country of the Festival held between 17-21 December. Within this framework, a "Turkish Film Week" was organized with the contributions of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye. The events were attended by the the famous Turkish film actress and guest of honour of the event, Mrs. Türkan Şoray along with  many cinema professionals from Türkiye.
 

Festival began with a  magnificent opening ceremony which gathered  leading representatives of the cinema industry in Bishkek.  It was noteworthy that the corporate identity of the festival, which was held for the first time this year, featured the blue colour representing the sky and the panther, known as the most important cult animal in the culture of Kyrgyzstan. The participating artists were greeted with applause when they entered the hall of the Manas Philharmonic,  walking on the blue coloured carpet stretching from eht entrance onto the stage.

The event was attended by Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic Akylbek Japarov, Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy Altynbek Maksutov, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey Serdar Çam, as well as cinema representatives from dozens of countries.

The Guest of Honour of the festival was Türkan Şoray

Having come to Bishkek as the guest of honour of the 1st Film Festival of  Bishkek, the famous actress Türkan Şoray, nicknamed the sultan of Turkish cinema, who played the leading role in the film Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım, adapted from the work of Cengiz Aitmatov, entered the stage  accompanied by a strong applause of the audience which expressed its appreciation. Mrs. Şoray who said a few words, stressed that this has been her second visit to  Kyrgyzstan after  many years.

-The festival was dedicated to the 95th anniversary of Chingis Aitmatov.
 

The festival was dedicated to the world-famous Kyrgyz author Chingis Aitmatov, whose 95th birthday will be celebrated on December 12th this year. The President of the jury was the  Golden Bear Award-winning director Kaplanoğlu. In his speech at the opening ceremony of the festival, Kaplanoğlu said that the first work he read in his life belonged to Cengiz Aitmatov. Stating that they visited Aitmatov's grave together with the jury members, Kaplanoğlu said, "May Aitmatov's soul rest in peace. Aitmatov is a great author who has voiced the spirit of Turkic culture to worldwide and made a unique contribution to the universal recognition of Kyrgyz literature." Philipp Chea from Singapore, Elena Dulgeru from Romania, Park Sun-young from South Korea and Gülsara Ajibekova from Kyrgyzstan also took part in the festival as members of the  jury.

International forum on “Aitmatov and the Art of Cinema”

Following the opening of the festival, the first event of the first day was the international forum entitled "Aitmatov and the Art of Cinema". The forum, which was held with the participation of local and foreign authors and scholars, started with a visit through the exhibition of  works and photographs of the author at the Chingiz Aitmatov Cultural Centre of the National Library in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

Mr. Serdar Çam, the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye who delivered an opening speech at the forum  attended by Roza Aitmatova, the sister of the late Chingis Aitmatov, Askar Aitmatov, the son of the author, and Eldar Aitmatov.

In his speech, Deputy Minister Çam stated that Chingis Aitmatov was a great man who made the world adopt his messages after the sufferings he and his father went through, and that the spirit of his work is what humanity is looking for and needs. Deputy Minister Çam further expressed his confidence that the Bishkek International Film Festival, which was organised for the first time this year, will become stronger every year and claim its place in the world of cinema.

Within the framework of the International Film Festival of  Bishkek  held for the first time this year upon decree of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov with a view to improving the system of state support for the development of the national film industry and cinematography, participants also exchanged views on artificial intelligence and cinema, acting, virtual reality and cinema and modern conditions of the distribution market amongst others.

Special Award of TURKSOY  presented at the closing ceremony of the festival

The amount of the prizes to be awarded at the Bishkek Film Festival this year reaches 300,000 million soms, while the films and projects ranking in the competitions will receive many different awards including the Special Award of TURKSOY to be  handed over  by TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev to representatives of the relevant institutions or individuals in recognition of their contribution to the culture and art  in the Turkic World. The closing ceremony of the festival will be held on  November 21st, 2023 at the  Bishkek Opera and Ballet.