The Kyrgyz feature film "Kara Kyzyl Sary" (Black, Red, Yellow) directed by Aktan Arym Kubat won the Grand Prix at the first International Film Festival of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States, which took place on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul from July 16 to 19, 24.kg reports.
The main award was announced at the closing ceremony by Mirbek Mambetaliev, Minister of Culture, Information, and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic. Summing up the four festival days, he noted that Kyrgyzstan was honored for the first time to host such a large-scale international film forum, bringing together filmmakers from eight countries.
According to him, the festival confirmed that the language of cinema knows no boundaries, uniting people of different cultures and creating new opportunities for professional collaboration. The victory of the film produced by Kyrgyzfilm studio was the highlight of the festival and was met with prolonged applause.
The success of the film "Kara Kyzyl Sary" demonstrates that Kyrgyz cinema is still capable of producing international-level films.
However, today the industry is developing in significantly more challenging conditions than during the heyday of Kyrgyzfilm Studios, which was considered one of the leading studios in the Soviet Union and Central Asia in the 1960s–1980s.
It was then that the phenomenon of the "Kyrgyz miracle" emerged, when national cinema gained international recognition thanks to directors Tolomush Okeev, Bolotbek Shamshiev, Gennady Bazarov, Melis Ubukeyev, and Algimantas Vidugiris.
Films such as "The Sky of Our Childhood," "The Red Apple," "The White Steamship," "The Fierce," "The Descendant of the White Leopard," and "Men Without Women" have become classics of both domestic and international cinema. Many of these films were based on the works of Chingiz Aitmatov and have won awards at prestigious international film festivals.
Today, the success of Kyrgyz cinema is largely due to the work of individual directors, while the sustainable development of the industry requires systemic government support, modernization of technical infrastructure, training of young specialists, and expanded international cooperation.
The victory of "Kara Kyzyl Sary" demonstrates that the potential of Kyrgyz cinema remains high. If current achievements receive long-term institutional support, they could become the starting point for a new stage in the development of national cinema and the restoration of Kyrgyzfilm's reputation as one of the region's leading film studios.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
July 20, 2026