Ayka Wins Award At Film Festival In Oslo

OSLO. KAZINFORM - Over 80 films from Asia, Africa, and Latin America were presented at the 28th Film fra Sør ("Film from the South") international film festival in Oslo, Kazinform correspondent reports. During the film forum, Kazakhstan was represented by "Ayka" by Sergey Dvortsevoy that has triumphed the Cannes Film Festival and motion pictures made by Emir Baigazin, a winner of the Venice Film Festival, who became one of the honored guests of the festival. At the end of the festival, the jury awarded prizes in four nominations: the DOK:SOUTH (Documentary), Audience, New Voices, and Silver Mirror awards. In the New Voices section, it was "Ayka" which won the award. "Makala" directed by Emmanuel Gras was recognized as the best documentary film. "Shoplifters" by Hirokazu Koreeda and "Burning" by Chang-Dong Lee won the Audience and Silver Mirror awards, respectively. Due to the absence of "Ayka" film crew representatives, the Kazakh diplomats accredited in the Norwegian capital received the award at the ceremony, which took place on Monday. Receiving the prize, Charge d'Affaires of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Norway Ilyas Omarov pointed out that the Ayka theme touches upon the most important issue of our time - illegal migration to major metropolises and added that "contemporary cinematography is now one of the key elements of people's diplomacy". According to him, the film turned out to be a truly international project, because not only Kazakhstan and Russia but also filmmakers from Germany, China, and Germany worked together producing it. At the Film fra Sør festival, Emir Baigazin presented his films "Harmony Lessons", "The Wounded Angel" and "The River", and his new work "Would You Like to Stargaze". Baigazin also held a meeting with representatives of the Kazakh diaspora at the Embassy of Kazakhstan, where he shared his plans, highlighting the government's crucial role in supporting the national cultural figures.