THE SHORT FILM HISTORY OF CIVILISATION (2020) WILL PRECEDE THE SCREENING OF MARIAM (2019)
History of Civilisation (2020)
SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE
Directed by: Zhannat Alshanova
Runtime: 15 minutes
Country: Kazakhstan
Language: Russian with English subtitles
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Awards
SILVER LEOPARD FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Locarno International Film Festival 2020
Full Synopsis
In Kazakhstan, nearly a quarter of university graduates emigrate in search of foreign opportunities. Set against this widespread phenomena, a young lecturer, Indira, straddles the expectations of two worlds as she prepares to leave Almaty for London. On her last day of school, Indira reflects on the boundaries of the world she leaves behind, and dares to contemplate the possibilities of crossing them.
Mariam (2019)
Directed by: Sharipa Urazbayeva
Runtime: 75 minutes
Country: Kazakhstan, Germany
Language: Kazakh with English subtitles
Rating: PG (Scene of Intimacy)
Full Synopsis
In a remote village on the Kazakh Steppe, timid Mariam cares for her husband and young children. Winter has arrived. With neither electricity nor easy access to water, every day is a struggle for survival. Then, Mariam’s husband suddenly disappears and the family finds itself in dire straits. Since his body cannot be found, the state refuses to declare him deceased, barring the family from financial support. Mariam is thus forced to redefine her position as wife, mother, and woman, in order that her husband’s fate would not determine her children’s or her own. Based on lead actress Meruert Sabbusinova’s life, Mariam is an intensely personal, hermeneutical rendering of a woman’s singular experience of a world that most can only imagine.
For the full Whose House Is This: New Cinema of Central Asia programme, please visit the main programme page here.
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