I’m really excited to share with you a short Kyrgyz film that is taking the short film circuit by storm this year.  It’s called Seide, and it was written, directed, and produced by the incomparable Elnura Osmonalieva, a FLEX alumnus and current NYU MFA student who has a true gift for stunning visual storytelling.  Let’s take a look.

I actually found out about this film in a pretty cool way.  I was sitting in Sierra Coffee in Bishkek last fall, and my neighbor asked if I could switch seats with her so she could plug in her computer.  Impressed with her unaccented English, I asked about her background.  It turned out that it was Osmonalieva, the director of this film.  She was getting ready to go the Venice Film Festival, and needed to charge her laptop to keep working.  We talked about her films, and her growing up in Osh, and about how this film is an important part of her MFA program at NYU.

I also found out that, in addition to her films, she also runs a network of schools for underprivileged youth across Kyrgyzstan called Bilimkana (house of knowledge).  Several other volunteers are now working with them on their summer camps.  In short, she’s awesome, and so is her film.

The film is set in a remote mountain village in Kyrgyzstan.  This is the vista:

Here’s the synopsis from the press kit.  I tried to rewrite it myself, but I find that the original is far more eloquent.

Young Seide lives in a secluded mountain village in the heart of Kyrgyzstan. She loves her freedom to ride her horse, the closest soul she has, and enjoys playing with the village boys. When she is faced with the prospect of an arranged marriage, her family decides to honour the tradition and kill Seide’s horse for the wedding celebration. Upset and feeling voiceless, Seide tries to understand her family’s decision but cannot let her horse be killed. Unfortunately, the horse, like herself, has no way of escape. Alone and broken hearted, Seide stays in her old but forever changed world.

Osmonalieva said about the film:

I set out to make a sad beautiful film about growing up and having to make hard choices.  As we grow, with increasing frequency, life gives us hard choices and we often need to choose between stepping into the unknown or staying with what you know and feel tied to. Often, we are not able to walk away because of our affections and we stay hostage to our fears.

From what I’ve seen, it’s a beautiful exploration of these themes.

Osmonalieva was also interviewed about the process of making this film by KQED in the US, and it’s a really cool interview with some beautiful stories and insights.

Take a look at the trailer below:

This film is already making a lot of buzz, and has already been an official selection at the Venice Film Festival (2015), Sundance (2016), Int’l Santa Barbara Film Festival (2016), Clermont Ferrand Int’l Short Film Festival (2016), and Manchester Film Festival (2016).  In a few of these, it was the first time that a film from Kyrgyzstan had ever been selected, a testament to Osmonalieva’s skill and vision.

I hope you all get the chance to see it at some point!  It’s still on the festival circuit, so keep your eyes peeled.

Seide was written and directed by Elnura Osmonalieva and premiered in 2015.  All copyrights are held by the owners, and images and the trailer are included with permission.  More information available at www.seidefilm.com.