Guests of the Festival of Turkic cinema: "The contribution of Tatarstan to the friendship of our countries is huge"
On the eve, in Kazan, the II International Turkic Film Festival, which took place in the capital of Tatarstan from June 21 to 23, completed its work. For three days, residents and guests were shown 13 films from countries such as Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In the days of the festival, more than 2,000 spectators saw them.
At the press conference on the day of the launch of the film forum, strategically important steps in promoting the Turkic cinema and the development of the Tatarstan film industry were announced.
According to Khojakuli Narliev, a Turkmen director, coordinator and chairman of the Association of Cinematographers of the Turkic World, the main reason for creating such a festival, uniting the Turkic peoples of the world, was the desire to revive the national cinema.
“Previously, each republic had its own film school, but this great legacy was stuck in the past, sank into oblivion. It is in our power to return to cinema not only the intrinsic value of a personality, but also to return our past, saving it for future descendants. As for the festival’s goal in itself, my colleagues and I noticed that if our fraternal republics are making films, they don’t take it anywhere beyond their own territory. And this international festival is a unique opportunity not only to show your cinema, but also to get acquainted with the successes of its neighbors, the fraternal Turkic peoples, ”said Narliev.
Also, journalists were told about the projects of co-production of Tatarstan with Uzbekistan and Turkey. One of them is a full-length feature film based on the work by Zifa Kadyrova "Sumbul", which is scheduled to be shot in Bukhara and in one of the regions of Tatarstan. The other is the film project “Safa and Sazhida”, the locations for which filming are scheduled in the Turkish village of Osmania; Today, the Turkish side is looking for partners for organization of filming.
Fruitful work has been done within the framework of the business forum. The guests of the festival met with the Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin and the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Irada Ayupova. At the round table, current problems of the Turkic cinema were discussed, in particular, the promotion and rental of films, as well as the t production of motion pictures.
Farid Mukhametshin underlined that Tatarstan attaches great importance to the development of cinema, and the festival of Turkic cinema provides an opportunity to promote culture and moral values of the Turkic-speaking peoples.
“We must preserve and pass on to the future generations the spiritual and cultural wealth of our peoples. From this point of view, cinema art solves global tasks - to educate a competent cultural person who is familiar with the traditions of their ancestors, ”the head of the Tatarstan parliament stressed, adding that special attention should be paid to the issue of personnel training — this will allow the national cinema to be firmly put on its feet.
RT Culture Minister Irada Ayupova presented her vision of the development and promotion of Turkic cinema. “All the festivals we hold have one task - the organization of professional communication. Today we cannot develop, share experience in conditions of localization. I would like to ask you to focus on three key aspects: the organization of film screenings - expansion of the film market through rentals, film festivals and television; co-production, which is very promising for creating a competitive product; on-site training, joint student exchange projects, or even the creation of a new platform, where young filmmakers from Turkic countries will be able to make a film together. I hope that the festival will be continued in joint projects that will mutually enrich the culture of our peoples, ”the minister said.
During the meeting, representatives of film studios from countries and regions of the Turkic world put forward a proposal to register the Association of Filmmakers of the Turkic World as an organization with the administrative center in Kazan. Also, the participants of the round table discussed the issue of creating a catalog of films of Turkic countries for the further organization of rental and broadcast of motion picture data on television. In particular, during the meeting of the New Century TV and Radio Company, 60 Turkish films and more than a dozen films from countries of the Turkic world with a package of rights were offered.
On the final day, the guests of the International Festival of Turkic Cinema visited the national holiday of Sabantuy, where filmmakers could see and feel the Tatar flavor, get acquainted with the national customs of the Tatars. The President of JSC "Kazakhfilm" named after Shaken Aimanov, Bakhyt Kairbekov, expressed a desire to make a film about the history, traditions and customs of the Tatar people. A film crew from Kazakhstan is already shooting on the territory of the republic.
At the closing ceremony, the results of the most important business negotiations with the guests of the festival, Tatarstan filmmakers and representatives of the leadership of Tatarstan were announced. In response, the film forum participants noted that Guests of the Festival of Turkic cinema: "The contribution of Tatarstan to the friendship of our countries is huge".