ASTANA—The Kazakh film Talaq (The Divorce) won the Best Film award, and the lead actress, Amira Omarova, was named Best Actress at the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) Golden Cup Award ceremony in Shanghai on June 22.
The Kazakh film Talaq (The Divorce), directed by Daniyar Salamat won the Best Film award. Photo credit: The paper
According to Kazinform, SIFF’s main competition program included two Kazakh films.
Talaq, directed by Daniyar Salamat, was selected for the feature film section, marking its world premiere.
Talaq, a film by Daniyar Salamat. Photo credit: The paper
Another film, co-produced by Kazakhstan, Russia and Italy and titled Longer Than a Day, directed by Malika Mahamedzhan, premiered in the New Asian Talents program.
In the Full-Length Feature Films category, 14 films, including Talaq, competed for the main prize.
The film is set in the late 1920s, a period marked by the onset of collectivization and the country’s proclamation of socialism’s triumph. One of the era’s popular slogans was the “Emancipation of the Women of the East.” Salamat’s film depicts the final years of traditional Kazakh nomadism and the tragic consequences of these drastic changes.
The Shanghai International Film Festival has been held annually since 1993.
The festival received over 3,700 applications from 105 countries and regions this year. After the selection, 50 films from 29 countries and regions were chosen for the Golden Cup Award in five categories, with 38 making their world premieres.
