Aktan Abdykalykow - Arym Kubat
Born in 1957 in Kirghizstan, Aktan Arym Kubat studied at art school in Bishkek, graduating in 1980. He then worked as a set-designer at Studio Kirghizfilm and worked in this capacity on several fiction films. In 1990 he made a short documentary film, A Dog was Running. This was followed by several short films In between making two short films, he directed public service films, one of which, Yris-Aldy-Yntimak won the Grand Prix at the Moscow International Advertising Festival. In 2001, Aktan Abdikalikov directed his second feature film, Maimal (The Monkey), which was selected for the section Un certain regard at Cannes.
Filmography
2016 Centaur
2010 The Light Thief (Svet-Ake)
2009 Mothers Heaven
2001 The Chimp (Maimil)
1998 Beshkempir (The Adopted Son)
1995 Halt (Kurzfilm)
1993 The Swing
1992 Where Is Your House, Snail? (Kurzfilm)
1990 A Dog was Running (Kurzfilm)
Centaur (2017)
There’s a horse thief at large on the outskirts of Bishkek high up in the mountainous region of Kyrgyzstan’s capital. Otherwise not a lot happens in this small community that does at least boast a cinema. This is where stories of the war in Afghanistan, Bollywood fairy-tales from India or films by ex-Soviet director Tolomush Okeyev open up a window on the world. This is also where projectionist and horse thief Centaur lives with his deaf wife and young son. Theirs is a simple life and yet one that increasingly seems to fall foul of the jealously and intrigues of others. More
The Light Thief - Svet-Ake (2010)
They call him "Svet-ake" ("Mr. Light"). The electrician is responsible for bringing more than just light to the people around him. Like moths, everybody is drawn to his kindness: those with short circuits in their electricity, and those with short circuits in their marriage, those who have taken all the power in the city, and those who have given up the will to live. He helps everyone and is everywhere. He doesn't even shy from breaking the law, rewinding an old and lonely pensioner's electricity meter so that he doesn't owe the State, but rather the State owes him. More
Beshkempir (1998)
Beshkempir (The Adopted Son) takes its title from the name of the boy whose story it tells. His life is sunny and carefree, spent in childhood games, until the day he hears terrible news from his playmates: he is not his parents’ biological child. Overnight, his best friend becomes his rival and the young girl of his dreams starts going bicycling with somebody else. His pleasant and peaceful existence is over: if his parents are not his own, Beshkempir feels he has lost his whole identity. He tries to gradually overcome the problems that arise from this new situation. More
