Eurasian Creative Guild - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 8

Burabay Festival

French Film and British Screenplay Win $16,000 at Kazakhstan’s Burabay Festival

A French animated film and a British screenplay have won grants worth a combined $16,000 at the fifth Burabay International Short Film Festival in northern Kazakhstan. The festival was held in Shchuchinsk from August 12 to 14, bringing together filmmakers and cultural figures from more than 20 countries, according to organizers. Founded by London-based Silk Road Media in partnership with the Eurasian Creative Guild, BISFF focuses on short films and screenplays, and this year introduced live pitching to the final stage of its competition. The Best Short Film award went to French filmmaker Erwan Le Gal for Hypatia of Alexandria: The Solitary Bee, a 13-minute animated film about the philosopher Hypatia, who was killed in Alexandria in 415. Le Gal received a $6,000 grant intended to promote the film through international screenings. British screenwriter Judson Vaughan won Best Screenplay for Kebam!, receiving a $10,000 production grant. Under the festival’s rules, the grant is intended to support the development of the screenplay into a film with a production team. The international jury included film and cultural professionals from Kazakhstan, the UK, Austria, Italy, and Russia. Luis Francisco Martínez Montes, Spain’s ambassador to Kazakhstan, served as an honorary jury member. Alongside the competition, the programme included outdoor screenings, an exhibition by the local Art Burabay group, and a workshop led by festival director Taina Kaunis. Burabay has hosted several international events organized by the Eurasian Creative Guild in recent years. In December 2025, The Times of Central Asia reported on a British-Kazakh cultural festival there that also incorporated the Burabay short film competition.

Kyrgyz Film

Kyrgyz Film Opens Central Asian Cultural Series in Argentina

A screening of the Kyrgyz historical drama Kurmanjan Datka: Queen of the Mountains in Buenos Aires on August 7 has opened a new series aimed at introducing Central Asian cinema and literature to audiences in Latin America. The event was organized by the Eurasian Creative Guild with support from the Yunus Emre Institute in Buenos Aires. The organizers told The Times of Central Asia that the screening was the first official presentation of a Kyrgyz feature film in Argentina. The event also launched an international series of Central Asian film screenings and book presentations in Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America. Directed by Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, Kurmanjan Datka: Queen of the Mountains tells the story of the 19th-century Kyrgyz leader Kurmanjan Datka. The film was Kyrgyzstan’s submission for the Foreign Language Film category at the 87th Academy Awards. The Buenos Aires event also included a presentation of the English-language book Queen Kurmanjan of the Mountains by Kyrgyz author Bubaysha Arstanbekova, published by Hertfordshire Press. The series is being organized in the run-up to the 15th Open Eurasian Literary Festival & Book Forum, which is scheduled to take place in Buenos Aires in October 2027. Kazakhstan will be the focus of the next screening in September, with the historical drama The Crying Steppe, directed by Marina Kunarova. The film, set against the Soviet-era famine in Kazakhstan, was Kazakhstan’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. The organizers said further film screenings and literary presentations are planned as part of efforts to expand cultural links between Central Asia and Latin America.

Film Festival

Eurasian Film Festival in London Showcases Cinema from Central Asia and Beyond

The ninth edition of the ECG Eurasian Film Festival has concluded in London, bringing together films from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the wider post-Soviet space. The festival, held in partnership with the Romford Film Festival, was created to promote Eurasian cinema in the English-speaking world and connect filmmakers from the region with international audiences and industry professionals. It is also listed by FestivalFinder, the European Festivals Association’s platform for film festivals. The festival still gives filmmakers from smaller Eurasian film industries access to London audiences and industry professionals. Too often, movies from across Eurasia are framed through a narrow lens as “regional,” “political,” or useful mainly for their cultural differences. The London program suggests something broader. Its strongest entries were not simply statements about places, but stories about youth, memory, technology, art, identity, and imagination. This year, the top prize went to K-Poper by Iranian director Ebrahim Amini. The film follows a teenage girl who becomes fascinated by a Korean pop star and dreams of traveling to Seoul, despite her mother’s opposition. It is a story rooted in Iran, but its subject is immediately recognizable: pop culture, generational tension, and the private worlds young people build for themselves. Other winners showcased the range of the program. The animation prize went to Swiss photographer Bellopropello for a film about the way smartphones are reshaping human behavior. Best Documentary was awarded to Russian director Vladimir Sumashedov for a film about an artist who tries to confront the violence of World War II through art. The Best Book Trailer award went to Armenian writer Elena Aslanyan’s The Gold of the Aryans. Central Asian works also formed a key part of the selection. The Uzbek film Batyr Zakirov & Frank Sinatra: The Meeting That Could Have Happened... won the Audience Choice Award, imagining a cultural encounter between the Soviet East and American popular music. Kazakhstan was represented by Saule Rysbaeva’s Children, the Seeds of the Future, while Uzbekistan’s Legends of the Great Silk Road revisited the region’s cultural inheritance through animation. The value of festivals like ECG is not only in the awards. It is in giving audiences a chance to see Eurasian cinema as cinema first: varied, ambitious, and fully part of the global film conversation.

Culture

British-Kazakh Cultural Festival Returns to Burabay

Burabay, a popular lake resort in northern Kazakhstan, has hosted the 10th edition of the 'Voices of Friends: Poetry & Art' festival, which ran from 29 November to 2 December. The annual gathering, arranged by the London-based Eurasian Creative Guild (ECG), has become one of Central Asia's events for cultural collaboration, bringing together writers, filmmakers, visual artists and musicians from 20 countries. This year’s programme continued the festival’s mix of literature and modern arts, with an emphasis for 2025 on emerging film talent, through the youth-focused Cinema Future festival and the Burabay International Short Film Festival (BISFF). According to filmmaker and BISFF jury member Timur Akhmedjanov, “Young filmmakers from different countries on one screen [means] the birth of a new generation of cinema.” Alongside film events, the festival featured book presentations from publishers Hertfordshire Press, discussions about art, performances by an international community choir, and creative workshops hosted at the ECG Horizons residency. Organisers emphasised that for the festival, collaboration is as important as presentation. “The festival grows like a living universe of ideas and emotions. Here everyone is a creator – and everyone feels that their voice matters,” said festival director and cultural projects author Taina Kaunis. During the event's closing ceremony, awards were presented to some figures shaping Eurasian culture, while the Eurasian Creative Guild announced a change in leadership ahead of its 2026 season. Founder Marat Akhmedjanov, originally from Uzbekistan but now residing in Scotland, highlighted the organisation’s international ethos, saying: “Creativity knows no borders. We speak dozens of languages, yet understand each other perfectly.” ECG vice-chair Saltanat Khamzeyeva called it “the beginning of a big story” for cultural development in Central Asia. The Guild underscores that the Burabay resort has become more than a picturesque location for a festival. Chair Francesca Mepham summed up its growing impact: “We see Eurasian creativity becoming a global voice – and this voice will only become stronger.”

Film Festival

Film About Turkmen Poet Wins International Award in London

The film Magtymguly Pyragy, a collaborative production by filmmakers from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, has won the “Audience Recognition” award at the Eurasian Creative Guild (ECG) Film Festival 2025 in London. The movie tells the story of Magtymguly Pyragy, an 18th-century Turkmen poet and philosopher, focusing on his ideals of peace, love for the homeland, and aspirations for national awakening. The project was jointly produced by directors, actors, and creative teams from both countries. This collaboration has been widely praised as a powerful symbol of cultural dialogue and brotherhood. Viewers and jury members commended the film for its compelling visuals, immersive historical atmosphere, and the strong performances delivered by its cast. Organizers of the festival noted that the film goes beyond artistic achievement, serving as a cultural bridge that fosters mutual understanding and promotes universal values such as freedom, dignity, and humanity. The ECG Film Festival annually gathers filmmakers from over 20 countries to celebrate and promote cinema from the Eurasian region. In related celebrations, Turkmenistan hosted a summit of heads of government in October and a conference of culture ministers in May 2024 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Magtymguly Pyragy’s birth.

Eurasian Creative Guild

Where East Meets West: Seventh Eurasian Film Festival Celebrates Cinema in London

From May 22 to 27, the seventh Eurasian Film Festival brought a celebration of Eurasian cinema to London. Organized by Silk Road Media and the Eurasian Creative Guild (ECG), the event, held in partnership with the Romford Film Festival, showcased a range of artistic talents while fostering cultural and industry connections. This year’s festival featured submissions from 23 countries, providing a diverse line-up of feature films, shorts, documentaries, animation, music videos, screenplays, and more. The event provided a platform for filmmakers to share stories rooted in Eurasia's cultural heritage. Prize-Winning Films This year’s awards spanned a range of categories, honoring creativity and technical excellence. Highlights included Sirin’s Song by Elena Turova (Belarus) for Best Animation and The Master of the Altai Mountains by Vadim Vitovtsev and Ilya Tsyganov (Russia) as for Best Documentary. The Audience Award in this category went to Baltic Radiation by Aldona Grupas (UK). In the feature film category, Where The White Cranes Dance (Russia) and Aydillar (Uzbekistan) shared the top honor, with Magtymguly Pyragy (Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan) taking the Audience Award. Kazakhstan made a strong showing in the Short Films category, with Poncha by Kaisha Rakhimova taking first place and Call by Asem Kuanishbayeva winning the Audience Award. Several screenplays and productions also received special jury mentions, including Daddy Arrived by Almaz Kossobaev (Kyrgyzstan), emphasizing the festival’s role in highlighting emerging talent. Literature Meets Film A notable theme this year was the dialogue between literature and cinema. Presentations included The Legends of the Great Silk Road: Adventures of the Spirit of Time a children’s book series by Gulchekhra-begim Makhmudova, exploring its adaptation into film. Ukrainian poet Serhii Bely also unveiled a project based on his novel The Maestro and the Muse. Special Recognitions and Events The festival also celebrated cultural contributions, with the Poezija Londyn Foundation presenting honorary medals to individuals such as Zhazira Zhanabayeva (Kazakhstan), whose art exhibition ran concurrently with the festival. A crowdfunding event led by actress Francesca Mepham generated significant interest in new projects, showcasing the event’s collaborative spirit. Submissions are now open for the 2026 season, as the festival continues to spotlight Eurasian cinema on the global stage.