ASTANA – The 10-episode “The Kazakh Khanate” cinematic series and a motion picture based on the series will be released during the spring 2016 Nauryz celebrations, said Arman Asenov, producer of “Kazakh Eli,” at a recent Central Communications Service briefing.
“We think that a film about nomads is ideally suited for Nauryz. Seventy out of 150 scenes have already been filmed. Except adjusting for weather conditions, shooting is going on with no interference. Apart from a 10-episode series, we are also planning to release a full-length version,” Asenov said.
He also said Al-Jazeera Arabic television and media outlets in Russia, where Nauryz is also celebrated, are interested in airing the series. Negotiations are also underway with Channel One (ORT), NTV and others.
The 150 million tenge (US$484,207) needed to begin shooting “Kazakh Khanate,” was raised through crowdsourcing. Kazakh residents can help finance the project through crowdfunding by going to qazaqeli550.kz.
An unnamed large industrial group is also going to sponsor the project with 500 million tenge (about US$1.61 million.)
Having undergone several cuts, the estimated budget of the project is 2.16 billion tenge (US$6.99 million).
According to Khabar news, battle scenes, legendary historical characters and other breathtaking scenes are being shot in the Almaty region.
Crowd scenes included 300 people and consisted of local residents, military and stuntmen, however, according to historical data, more than 200,000 people actually migrated. Therefore, the director used computer multiplication of the image. Members of the camera crew said that a lot of time was spent on the preparation of horse ammunition, jewelry, weapons, 11 types of costumes and the creation of the scenery, khabar.kz reported.
According to the director, stunt men have a lot of work in this film. For example, the girls who play amazons learned horseback riding and archery especially for this role.
“What had happened 550 years ago was a historic moment when the Kazakh Khanate separated and formed a young state in very difficult circumstances,” Production Director Rustem Abdrashev told the Khabar news channel Nov. 5.
A team of writers and playwrights, including Smagul Elubayev and Timur Zhaksylykov, worked on the plot and artistic details.
Historical and fictional literature, including the first part of the “Nomads” novel by Ilyas Yesenberlin, were used when writing the script. The storyline begins with the founding of the Khanate in 1465 by Kerey and Zhanibek khans and continues to 1512, when Kassym Khan came to power.
