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List of Kyrgyzstani submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

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Kyrgyzstan has submitted films to compete for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] since 1999. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.[3]

Kyrgyzstan has submitted fourteen films for consideration since gaining its independence from the USSR in 1991, but has thus far failed to make it to the final stage of the final five Oscar nominees. The first-ever Kyrgyzstani film to be submitted for Oscar consideration was The Ferocious One, a Kyrgyzstani production that was submitted by the USSR in late 1974 to compete for the 1975 Foreign Oscar. In this Russian-language film, a boy convinces his cruel uncle to spare the life of a wolf pup and then raises the wild animal to keep watch over the house.

Submissions

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Every year, each country is invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to submit its best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Kyrgyzstan for review by the Academy for the award since its conception.

Year
(Ceremony)		 Film title used in nomination Original title Language Director Result
1998
(71st) 		Beshkempir: The Adopted Son Бешкемпир Kyrgyz Aktan Abdykalykov Not nominated
2001
(74th) 		The Chimp Маймыл Kyrgyz, Russian Not nominated
2006
(79th) 		The Wedding Chest Сундук предков Kyrgyz, French Nurbek Egen Not nominated
2008
(81st) 		Heavens Blue Тенгри Kyrgyz Marie-Jaoul de Ponchville Not nominated
2010
(83rd) 		The Light Thief Свет-Аке Aktan Abdykalykov Not nominated
2012
(85th) 		The Empty Home Пустой дом Kyrgyz, Russian and French Nurbek Egen Not nominated
2014
(87th) 		Queen of the Mountains[4] Курманжан Датка Kyrgyz Sadyk Sher-Niyaz Not nominated
2015
(88th) 		Heavenly Nomadic[5] Сутак Mirlan Abdykalykov Not nominated
2016
(89th) 		A Father's Will[6] Atanyn Kereezi Bakyt Mukul and Dastan Japar Uulu Not nominated
2017
(90th) 		Centaur[7] Kentavr Aktan Abdykalykov Not nominated
2018
(91st) 		Night Accident[8] Tunku Kyrsyk Temirbek Birnazarov Not on the final list[9]
2019
(92nd) 		Aurora[10] Bekzat Pirmatov Not nominated
2020
(93rd) 		Running to the Sky[11] Жөө Күлүк Mirlan Abdykalykov Not nominated
2021
(94th) 		Shambala[12] Шамбала Kyrgyz and English Artykpai Suyundukov Not nominated
2022
(95th) 		Home for Sale[13] Продается дом Kyrgyz Taalaibek Kulmendeev Not nominated
2023
(96th) 		This Is What I Remember Эсимде Kyrgyz Aktan Abdykalykov Disqualified
2024
(97th) 		Heaven Is Beneath Mother's Feet[14] Бейиш - эненин таманында Kyrgyz Ruslan Akun Pending

The first five films are stories about life in rural Kyrgyzstan, and all were co-produced with funding from French production companies.

The first two films – Beshkempir, The Adopted Son and The Chimp – were written and directed by Aktan Abdykalykov (now known as Aktan Arym Kubat), and star his teenage son Mirlan Abdykalykov. Both films are coming-of-age dramas about life in the rural north of the country. Beshkempir is the story of a 13-year-old boy who finds out that he is adopted, while The Chimp is a grimmer story about a 17-year-old in Soviet-era Kyrgyzstan living in a poor, industrial town before being drafted into the Soviet army. The Light Thief, a comedy about a man who "steals" electricity from the national grid to provide to his poor village, was also written and directed by Abdykalykov, and features the director in his first leading role.

The Wedding Chest and Tengri (aka Heavens Blue) were culture clash dramas. In Wedding Chest, a young Kyrgyzstani man returns home from his studies in France, with a beautiful French fiancée in tow. His fiancée is warmly welcomed by the village and captivated by the beauty of the region, but the man stubbornly refuses to tell his family that the two are engaged. In Tengri, a Kazakh man runs away with a married Kyrgyz woman whose abusive muhajadeen husband has just returned from Afghanistan.

Beshkempir was the first movie from independent Kyrgyzstan to win awards at major international film festivals including Locarno and Tokyo. A Father's Will won the prize for Best First Film at the 2016 Montreal World Film Festival.

Beshkempir also became the first Kyrgyzstani movie to be released on DVD in the United States in 2000, while The Chimp and Tengri got an English-subtitled DVD release in Hong Kong. The Wedding Chest was released on DVD in Russia with no English subtitles.

Notes

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  1. ^ The category was previously named the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but this was changed to the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film in April 2019, after the Academy deemed the word "Foreign" to be outdated.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ "Academy announces rules for 92nd Oscars". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Academy Announces Rule Changes For 92nd Oscars". Forbes. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Rule Thirteen: Special Rules for the Foreign Language Film Award". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  4. ^ "'Kurmanjan Datka' Reps Kyrgyzstan in Oscar Race". Variety. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  5. ^ Holdsworth, Nick (23 September 2015). "Oscars: Kyrgyzstan Submits 'Heavenly Nomadic' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Oscars: Kyrgyzstan Selects 'A Father's Will' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  7. ^ Holdsworth, Nick (20 September 2017). "Oscars: Kyrgyzstan Selects 'Centaur' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  8. ^ Kozlov, Vladimir (27 September 2018). "Oscars: Kyrgyzstan Selects 'Night Accident' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  9. ^ "87 Countries In Competition for 2018 Foreign Language Film Oscar". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  10. ^ Kozlov, Vladimir (16 September 2019). "Oscars: Kyrgyzstan Selects 'Aurora' for International Feature Film Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Фильм "Жөө Күлүк" выдвинут на соискание премии Оскар". Asia TV. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  12. ^ "'Shambala' Picked as Kyrgyzstan's International Oscar Contender". Variety. 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Кыргызстан выбрал киноленту, которую отправит на соискание премии "Оскар"". 24.KG. 25 September 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Фильм Руслана Акуна «Бейиш эненин таманында» будет представлен на соискание премии «Оскар»". AKIpress News Agency. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
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