NUR-SULTAN – Farkhat Sharipov’s “18 Kilohertz” won a grand prix at the 36th Warsaw International Film Festival that took place in Warsaw Oct. 9-18 despite the coronavirus outbreak.
Official poster
The film narrates the realities of teenage life in Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty in the 1990s amid a rising drug problem and depicts the problems young people face in their life.
“18 kilohertz is a sound frequency that adults cannot hear. The film is about the problems of teenagers. As you grow older every year, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand the problems of young people and problems that seemed unsolvable when you were a teenager yourself. It is difficult to remember the power of fear when it is so difficult to find a way out. With this film I just wanted to remind you of all this,” said Sharipov, a New York Film Academy graduate.
A scene from the film
Starring in the film were Musakhan Jumahan, Alibek Adiken and Kamila Fun So. For them, the film was a debut role.
Receiving the award virtually, Sharipov said it was a complete surprise for him.
“Big thanks to the festival. Thank you for preserving the cinema in such a difficult period of time. I want to thank our young actors, our producer and the entire film crew,” he said.
Liana Ruokyte-Jonsson, an international competition jury member and Lithuanian Minister of Culture, noted that the Kazakh film was “very powerful and convincing.”
“The jury members never doubted for a minute which film was the best of the 16 that we watched together. Each of the jury members made a list of three films that everyone liked, and after we read out our lists, we realized that there would not be any argument as to which film would receive the prize, because everyone placed ‘18 Kilohertz’ first,” she said,
The Warsaw International Film Festival has been held since 1985 and in 2009, it joined the group of international film festivals right next to Cannes, Venice, and Berlin, and was recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.
