The Amazing Country of Kyrgyzstan

A 20-minute documentary film about the Kyrgyz people living by the Narym River.

Life in a Kyrgyz aul (village) in the mountains connected to the rest of the world by a cable bridge, and the teenage boys who are constructing the rope of the bridge. A rope bridge which the locals call “The devil’s bridge” forms part of each and every event which takes place in a small village lost in the mountains of the Kyrgyz Republic. A platform driven by a huge winch which they have to pull with their own strength to cross the torrent is their only link with the outside world. But the director of the documentary wondered something else: “Does this bridge unite or does it actually separate?” Through the mist and over the thrashing waters, the inhabitants of the area glide along their ropes. A film, in the director’s own words, about ordinary people who live in an extraordinary place.

One of the highest achievements of the new wave of Kirghiz cinema, which emerged in the mid-1960s. This story of a boy building sandcastles on the shores of the Issyk-Kul Lake becomes a documentary parable on the tensions between an artist and society.

At the non-places of this world lie the struggles of nobodies, to improve, overcome and survive. Their struggles suffocate them, they forget to live. They dislocate them, bring them together and pull them apart. Father and son share simple dreams and a lifetime on the road. Along an unromantic Silk Route they try to make some come true. Searching for a more livable future they break apart. As working class heroes they accept their fate. The film examines the added value of honesty in our actions.

We get to meet Aslanbek—a teenage shepherd in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. “Aslanbek” is a story exploring the dynamics of relationship between humans and animals, what we can learn from the mountains, and about dreams. In short, it's a story about our forgotten values.

An audiovisual letter that connects an imagined Kyrgyzstan with the filmmaker’s inner world, blending personal illness, memory, and political echoes into a poetic reflection on distance and belonging.

A documentary film about the representation of the Kyrgyz culture in the USSR, as well as the reality of Kyrgyz dancers in Russia.

The film story follows the international group of researchers who are performing the scientific expedition in a remote high altitude Kyrgyz village named Sary Mogol.

In the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan, tradition is king. Polo's still played with a freshly killed goat and the men still marry their women the old-fashioned way: by abducting them off the street and forcing them to be their wife. Bride kidnapping is a supposedly ancient custom that's made a major comeback since the fall of Communism and now accounts for nearly half of all marriages in some parts.

In a remote village in Kyrgyzstan, the paths of an immigrant filmmaker from Belarus and a spirited ten-year-old local girl intersect, unfolding an intimate and visually rich cinematic journey. “I Lit the Fire!” premiered at Doclisboa 25, where it received an Honourable Mention from the Green Years jury — recognition for its poetic approach and strong visual storytelling. In 2026, the film received the Grand Prize for Best Film at Punto de Vista — International Documentary Film Festival of Navarra.

Documentary feature about Kyrgyzstan, the home of the poet Tschingis Aitmatov and his characters, encounters with nomads, Kyrgyz traditions and the impressive scenery.