The Kazakh movie “Nagima” directed by Zhanna Issabayeva won the Grand Prix at the Deauville Asian Film Festival held March 5-9 in France.
Chairperson of the jury was French film director Claire Denis. Actor and writer Rene Bonnel, actress and producer Roxane Mesquida and actor Samir Guesmi were also part of the jury.
“Nagima” premiered at the prestigious Pusan film festival in South Korea earier. And in February, it was shown at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.
Issabayeva’s film tells the story of two young people who grew up together in an orphanage. Nagima moonlights in a canteen and all the money she earns is used to pay rent on a shabby hut in the slums for her and her friend, Anya, who is eight months pregnant. Nagima and her friend are trying to survive in a harsh world and represent the struggles of women against poverty everywhere. In the film, Anya was not able to register at the local hospital and was never examined by a doctor during her pregnancy. Suffering pain and bleeding, Anya finally gets to the hospital where she dies during childbirth.
Left alone, Nagima decides to find her mother who abandoned her 18 years ago. But the woman many years later again refuses to have contact with her daughter.
“I am very proud and happy to show my film in France. Especially to get the Grand Prix, It is a great honour for me. I am happy that others care about the things that I care about. I am very happy and proud of it,” Issabayeva said.
The festival’s jury prize was awared to “Han Gong-Ju” directed by South Korean Lee Soo-Jin and “Ugly” directed by Anurag Kashyap from India. The critics’ award also went to the South Korean film “Han Gong-Ju.”
The film “Nagima” was the debut of leading actors Dina Tukubayeva and Mariya Nezhentseva. ARTiSHOCK theater actress Galina Pyanova and Zhol movie actor Nazar Sharkhan also starred in the film.
