Author: Elizabeth Crim

The Hunter (2011; Охотник), directed by Bakur Bakuradze, is a film of few words. Starring Mikhail Barskovich, Tatyana Shapolova, and Gera Avdochenok, the film employs lesser-known actors in the creation of this deeply moving picture. The film was critically well received and was nominated for the UN Certain Regard Award at the 2011 Cannes Film […]

Leviathan (2014; Левиафан) is a powerful film that lives up to its theological title. The film stars well-known actors who participated in director Andrey Zviaginstev’s other pictures, namely Aleksey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, and Roman Madyanov. Zviaginstev is known for his landscape-heavy film style in which the sublime seems to play its own character. This can […]

The Kambarkan Folk Ensemble (Камбаркан фольклордук ансамбл) represents a milestone in the cultivation of Kyrgyz national identity. Originally founded in 1987 by artist and musician Chalagyz Isabayev, the ensemble aimed to preserve, appreciate, and explore Kyrgyz folk music. Isabayev, born 1937 in Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul Region, was an honored artist of the Kyrgyz Republic. Although he […]