Alternativa Film Awards 2023

Umut, 19 years old, lives with her mother in the city suburbs and works as a nurse in a hospital. She becomes a randomly selected victim of «bride kidnapping». The film is based on numerous true stories of girls and women who became victims of «bride kidnapping» in Kyrgyzstan. Hiding behind an ancient tradition, which has been greatly distorted in modern times, men abduct women and force them into marriage.

Following an old Kazakh tradition called «bauryna salu», Yersultan was given to his grandmother at birth, so she could raise him. He grew up with resentment and a sense of disconnection from his parents. When he turned 12, his grandmother passed away, and he had to move back in with the family he barely knows. Yersultan's coming-of-age process coincides with an overwhelming transformation and an attempt to restore his relationship with his parents, especially his father.

In the heart of the biggest city in Kazakhstan, amid a summer day, a cruel and tragic event unfolds that unexpectedly forges a bond among the locals. A young documentary filmmaker captures the ongoing events to understand how people respond to the shared pain. The author identifies two of her peers within the emerging civil movement – an empathetic, courageous journalist and a determined political scientist. Observing them, she witnesses how society reclaims its right to speak out.

Ratima and Kalima were once married to the same man. Now they must forget the past and keep each other alive as they take care of an empty, snowbound village.