It was a special experience to fly to Kazakhstan, an erstwhile Soviet state and now a vibrant country in Central Asia, to attend a unique festival of 49 films from 20 countries that also had a three-member Jury.
The budget for this event at Almaty was one-and-a-half million dollars ! It was a small festival with a mega vision.
The Eurasia Festival was studded with multifarious activities such as a trip to the Kazakh film studios, release of an eye-catching encyclopaedia on Kazakh cinema, round-table discussion on the ‘Business' of international film festivals, a master class on film music and a script-pitching session with young Kazakh film students.
Kazakh cinema - like those of the region - is rapidly developing, thanks to the active support of the state. In fact, the entire festival was managed by the state, with support from private sponsors. One of the most striking lines spoken at the closing function by the Kazakh Cultural Minister was, “Let's start working for next year's festival!”
The section entitled ‘Dynamic Kazakh Cinema,' incorporated interesting and new cinematic fare that included the much-applauded ‘Paradise for Mum' by the famous Arym Kubat, impressive children's film ‘Anshi Bal,' action-packed ‘Liquidator' and the elliptical ‘Sunny Days.' which won the Best Director award.
The Grand Jury prize was won by the heart-warming film, ‘The First Rains of Spring,' which was shot in the lush Kazakh mountains with a non-professional cast. It was a Japanese-Kazakh co-production, signifying the beginning of exciting developments for Kazakh cinema.
In its seven years of existence, the Eurasia Festival has succeeded in implanting an enviable film-spirit in the city, and it was heart-warming to see the packed halls for every screening. Of course it helped that the theatres were small and the films were free.
While the films had English sub-titles, there were Kazakh voice-overs, which were distracting for the foreign guests, but were doubtless responsible for the large local audiences.
Bollywood reigns
Although the festival did not screen any Indian films this year, Bollywood cinema reigns supreme among the general public (the vestiges of the Soviet era), more so, because they are regularly aired on TV, dubbed in the Kazkah language.
Almost every person this writer met, declared their love for a ‘favourite' Indian actor. One lady even asked me to convey her great love to “Raj Kapoor and his family”!
Hollywood also dominates , which is why the festival regularly invites American stars.
This year, John Cusack, Sigourney Weaver and Nastassja Kinski thrilled the crowds.
The friendly Cusack told this writer that he had heard a lot about India from his brother who visited the country often. He wished he had an opportunity to visit India too.
Cusack recently shot the mega budget film, ‘Shanghai,' in Bangkok (Thailand)and stated that he enjoyed it thoroughly. “The weather was hot, but I guess that's why we all love Asia,“ he pointed out.
The tall Sigourney Weaver said that India was a country she had dreamt of visiting. She confessed that she had not visited many Asian countries even though she had planned to go to Bangkok for her honeymoon, which, however, did not happen. “Maybe it's time for a second honeymoon,” she quipped.
As for the lovely Nastassja Kinski , she could not stop talking about the mega docu-film she planned to make, on the theme of ‘Sports and Peace,' centering around the top sports icons of the world.
“There's nothing like Sports to unify the world,” said the actor of famed films such as ‘Tess.' She has lined up many well-known tennis stars for the film.
When this writer mentioned the name of Indiantennis star Sania Mirza, who is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, Nastassja became excited and wanted more details.
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was another sports icon she was very keen to feature in her film.
The film personality who stole the show at the Almaty festival, however, was not the glitzy Hollywood celebrities, but a soft-spoken Korean director whose films have moved audiences around the world.
Kim Ki Duk is a big name in global cinema, but does not speak a word of English. He was Chairman of the Jury, but ended up being the ‘King' of the whole festival!
His latest movie, ‘Arirang', a personal docu-film about his recent period of artistic depression, was the most talked about at the festival - as were his spontaneous singing sprees, when the director belted out the Korean folk-song, ‘Aringam Arrayo', at private and public functions.
Definitely, the small Eurasia festival had many mega moments. These included many touristic and cultural highlights too.
Artistic Director Gulnara Abikeyeva ensured that the festival guests got the total Kazakh experience. These included vibrant music by the four -member band Turan, who played 30 different ethnic instruments, a plethora of dances with folk and tribal features and varied ‘live' entertainment from ballet to can can to samba.
Almaty is the southern capital of the ninth largest country in the world - and in spite of not being well known, has a lot to offer. The Eurasia film festival is proof - a small event with mega flavours.
