{"id":2637,"date":"2026-05-30T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/2026\/05\/30\/kazakhstan-cinema-is-ready-to-make-a-splash-at-sxsw-london-no-need-for-borat\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:00:00","slug":"kazakhstan-cinema-is-ready-to-make-a-splash-at-sxsw-london-no-need-for-borat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/2026\/05\/30\/kazakhstan-cinema-is-ready-to-make-a-splash-at-sxsw-london-no-need-for-borat\/","title":{"rendered":"\u30ab\u30b6\u30d5\u30b9\u30bf\u30f3\u6620\u753b\u306fSXSW\u30ed\u30f3\u30c9\u30f3\u3067\u5927\u304d\u306a\u8a71\u984c\u3092\u547c\u3076\u6e96\u5099\u304c\u3067\u304d\u3066\u3044\u308b\u3002\u30dc\u30e9\u30c3\u30c8\u306f\u5fc5\u8981\u306a\u3044\uff01"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With ‘Sicko’ and ‘Becoming’ among the feature lineup, along with a short, the event’s head of screen Anna Bogutskaya explains why the Central Asian country, and the broader region, warrant attention.<\/p>\n<\/header>\n

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\t \t\t\t\t\t‘Sicko’ <\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of IFFR<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\tIf you think that film from Kazakhstan equals Borat, the fictional character created by Sacha Baron Cohen, you may want to think again \u2013\u00a0and come out to the Screen Festival<\/a> at SXSW London 2026<\/a> for the latest cinematic evidence. After all, Kazakhstan<\/a> is back in town and ready to make a splash.<\/p>\n

\tAnna Bogutskaya<\/a>, the head of screen at\u00a0SXSW London<\/a>, and her team have booked an eclectic mix of theatrical and series offerings. But Kazakhstani cinema<\/a> features more prominently than most would expect from the Central Asian country with a population of about 21 million. \t<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe\u2019ve got two features from Kazakhstan this year,\u201d which both get to celebrate their U.K. premieres at the fest, highlights Bogutskaya, along with a short. \u201cThat is a territory that is just exploding. There\u2019s so much [going on].\u201d <\/p>\n

\tThe one film is Zhannat Alshanova\u2019s debut feature Becoming<\/em>, about teenage swimmer Mila (portrayed by Tamiris Zhangazinova), who takes care of the family home and her kid sister while her mother pursues affairs and opportunities. It premiered at Locarno 2025. <\/p>\n

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\t \t\t\t\t\t\u2018Becoming\u2019 film still, courtesy of SXSW London<\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tThe other feature in the SXSW London spotlight is Aitore Zholdaskali\u2019s Sicko<\/em><\/a>, a thriller and social drama about a couple making a fortune by faking cancer, starring Ayan Utepbergen and Dilnaz Kurmangali, which world premiered at Rotterdam 2026. The movie is the filmmaker\u2019s first solo feature directorial effort.<\/p>\n

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\tMeanwhile, the short film from Kazakhstan at SXSW London this year is My Brother Lyosha and I, from Lena Tronina, which is set in the 1990s and focuses on Lyosha and Lena, who \u201cmust rely on each other to endure quiet cycles of violence at home,\u201d according to a synopsis.<\/p>\n

Bogutskaya expects more films from Kazakhstan to hit the festival circuit and possibly the world stage. \u201cWe had a film from there last year as well,\u201d namely Adilkhan Yerzhanov\u2019s horror feature\u00a0Cadet, as well as Dastan Zhapar Ryskeld\u2019s Deal at the Border from neighboring Kyrgyzstan, about\u00a0two young runners doing a big drug lord\u2019s dirty work by moving illicit packages across the river that marks the border between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.\u00a0 \t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\t\u201cIt is so exciting what\u2019s happening there and in that [whole] region,\u201d concludes Bogutskaya. \u201cSo we\u2019re definitely keeping an eye on that part of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Skip to main content With ‘Sicko’ and ‘Becoming’ among the feature lineup, along with a short, the event’s head of screen Anna Bogutskaya explains why the Central Asian country, and the broader region, warrant attention. ‘Sicko’ Courtesy of IFFR If you think that film from Kazakhstan equals Borat, the fictional character created by Sacha Baron Cohen, you may want to think again \u2013\u00a0and come out to the Screen Festival at SXSW London 2026 for the latest cinematic evidence. After all, Kazakhstan is back in town and ready to make a splash. Anna Bogutskaya, the head of screen at\u00a0SXSW London, and her team have booked an eclectic mix of theatrical and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,116,27,60,1533,1534],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hollywood","category-international","category-movie-news","category-movies","category-sxsw-london","category-sxsw-london-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}