Film Festival - The Times Of Central Asia

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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.

Culture

Turkmenistan to take part in Turkic World Documentary Film Festival

Turkmenistan has been announced as a participant in the 9th Turkic World Documentary Film Festival, which will be held in Ankara in October this year. The festival received 300 applications from nine countries, including Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Hungary, and Northern Macedonia. The festival is organized by the Federation of Journalists of the Turkic World with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, the International Turkic Culture Organization (TURKSOY), and other partners. Out of 300 submitted works, 147 films passed preliminary consideration by the jury. The festival’s grand opening is scheduled for October 11 at TURKSOY's headquarters. The competition will include works in the “feature-length documentary,” “short documentary,” and “student documentary” categories. A jury consisting of documentary filmmakers and scholars of the Turkic world will choose the winners. The festival will end on November 15 with a closing ceremony and announcement of the final results.

Eurasian Creative Guild Film Festival Art and Culture

VI ECG Film Festival Goes Beyond the Moving Image

The VI ECG Film Festival staged in London from 24-28 May, in partnership with the eighth UK Romford Film Festival at Premier Cinemas Romford, attracted over 100 entries from 22 countries. The Eurasian Creative Guild (ECG) is the sole platform promoting Eurasian cinema in the UK and this year’s festival featured work by directors from Poland, the UK, Kyrgyzstan, Spain, Russia, Iran, Uzbekistan, China, Armenia, and Kuwait. The non-profit organization was founded by Marat Ahmedjanov in London in 2015 to unite and promote Eurasian cultural and artistic practices to English-speakers, and as befits its mission, the festival went far beyond the ‘moving image’ to showcase work by visual artists, authors, poets, and musicians. In film, the competition attracted over 100 competition entries from 22 countries and with support from SIFFA film festival organiser Lubov Balagova-Kandur, included screenings of several Russian films such as the comedy ‘Aul's Challenge;’ the war drama ‘Maria. Save Moscow;’ a documentary on the poet ‘3723 Voznesensky’, and a Jordanian love story ‘Cherkes’. Central Asian films took several awards, including Best Eurasian Short film: ‘Happy Independence Day’ by Camila Sagyntkan (Kazakhstan); Best Eurasian Documentary Film: Sailing Seven Seas by Tatania Borsh (Russia-Kyrgyzstan); Audience Choice Award: ‘Sharaf Rashidov- Inspirer for the Development of Mirzachul’ by Shukhrat Khaitov (Uzbekistan); and the Honorary Achievement Certificate for Documentary Drama: ‘Behtarin’ by Mohsen Rahimi (Kuwait-Tajikistan). Visual artists from Kyrgyzstan took centre stage in the exhibition ‘‘Nomadic Narratives’, which also highlighted work by Dungan artist Rahima Arli, created during her ECG Horizons Rugby residency near London. ECG has a long and ongoing tradition of publishing works by Central Asian writers which would otherwise remain inaccessible to English readers, under Hertfordshire Press. Editor John Farndon took pleasure in presenting three new stories under the collective title ‘Akhriman, Lord of Darkness’ by highly renowned Tajik author Gulsifat Shahidi, as well as ‘Is It Necessary to Worship at Notre Dame?’ by Kazakh author Alikhan Zhaksylyk. Lovers of literature also enjoyed the opportunity to view the Kazat Akmatov Memorial in Romford, which both honours the esteemed Kyrgyz writer and serves as a beacon of strength for all Central Asian artists living and visiting London. The well-established Azerbaijani poet Sahib Mamedov read poems which he dedicated to the festival participants. Music too, featured highly at the event. In addition to a concert, medals of appreciation from Marta Brassart, ECG Chair, were presented to the musical duo Sherkhon, alongside artist Rahima Arli and young film director Timur Akhmedjanov, and recitals given by the duo from Uzbekistan Sherxon and the director of the Kazakh Cultural Centre in London, Kamshat Kumysbai. Now in its sixth season, the festival continues to gather momentum and this year, attracted audiences from Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, USA, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Austria, and Uzbekistan, and welcomed as guests of honour, the Mayor of Romford, Gerry O'Sullivan with MPs from the London Borough of Havering, and representatives from the embassies of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia and Belarus. As testimony to ECG’s unique promotion of Eurasian film, cinema audiences were...