NARIMAN TOEREBAJEV | KAZACHSTAN, FRANCE | 2014 | 79' | RUSSIAN SPOKEN AND ENGLISH SUBTITLED
The famous 19th-century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky spent five years of his life in Kazakhstan, and according to Kazakh director Nariman Turebayev the connection between his oeuvre and this country is strong and obvious. Dostoevsky's 1848 short story 'White Nights' was the inspiration for Turebayev's third feature film. He directed and wrote the script for his tragicomedy that had its world premiere at Karlovy Vary last July.
Dreamy and introvert Marat is single. He lives alone in the big city of Almaty and works as a security guard. His life is boring and predictable; each day is an exact copy of the day before. That is, until one day something unusual happens: a beautiful girl is standing in street where he lives. The next day he sees her again. Eventually, Marat happens to meet her. Her name is Mariyam and she is looking for her lover, who left her to go the city and promised to return. He never did though. Marat and Mariyam strike up a special friendship and have long, wonderful talks. All boredom disappears from Marat's life, he is living an adventure now: he is in love. It is almost too good to be true...
Screenings
Rialto:
FRI 15 AUG – 21.45 
SUN 17 AUG – 17.15