Central Asian Cinema Showcased at Asian Film Festival Barcelona

A young Kazakh couple who fake a terminal illness to raise money online are at the center of Sicko, one of several Central Asian films screened at this year's Asian Film Festival Barcelona. The festival, which concluded on November 1, also featured the award-winning Kyrgyz drama Kurak and other productions from across the region. Organized by the Spanish cultural institution Casa Asia, the festival ran from October 22 to November 1. Its program included more than 100 films from 25 countries across Asia and the Pacific. Although India was the main focus, organizers also highlighted Central Asian cinema, with productions from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The Kazakh satirical thriller Sicko (2025), directed by Aitore Zholdaskali, competed in the festival's official competition. Set in Almaty, the film follows the couple as their fundraising scam attracts far more attention than they anticipated. The film addresses the pressures of debt and shows how social media can turn public sympathy into a source of income. It made its international premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year. The second Kazakh film was Crickets, It's Your Turn, a Kazakhstan-France co-production directed by Olga Korotko. A young photographer named Merey is invited to a birthday party at a secluded house in the mountains outside Almaty. There, she encounters a group of men, and the gathering gradually descends into violence. The film had its world premiere at Switzerland's Locarno Film Festival in 2024, in the Cineasti del Presente section, which showcases emerging filmmakers. In Barcelona, it competed in the NETPAC section, named after the international Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. The screening took place on October 30. Farz (2026), directed by Sarvar Karimov, was Uzbekistan's contribution. The film follows a man who sacrifices the money he has saved for a pilgrimage to Mecca to build a home for his late friend's family. It screened on October 27 in the festival's Special Section, having previously featured at the Kazan International Film Festival. Kyrgyzstan was represented by Kurak (2025), a drama directed by Erke Dzhumakmatova and Emil Atageldiev. The title refers to traditional Kyrgyz patchwork sewing, in which individual pieces of fabric are joined to create a single textile. The film similarly weaves together several stories. One woman is blackmailed by a law enforcement officer, while another seeks justice following the suicide of her 18-year-old daughter after she was drugged and raped. The dramatized scenes are interwoven with real testimonies from women. By the time it screened in Barcelona, Kurak had already won several international awards. In 2025, it received two awards at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. In 2026, it won Best Film at the Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh and received the international jury's Grand Prix, along with the critics' and high school jury awards, at the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas in France. Despite its success abroad, Kurak faced obstacles in Kyrgyzstan. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that Kurak had been denied a...