The 7th Eurasia Film Festival was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Nearly 30 countries participated. It was a well-organized festival. As far as the NETPAC competition was concerned, there were 7 films in competition from Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Iran. The films were most interesting and displayed a good understanding of the medium of cinema.
The NETPAC Jury award went to the film ‘Lead’ from Uzbekistan. The deep historical imagination that informed the film was one of its defining features and chief merits. The films from the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Iran were also evaluated very favorably by the Jury. The way modernization is impacting the cultures of Central Asia, and how new forms of cultural modernities are emerging is a theme that seemed to ignite the interest of many filmmakers from the region.
The Chairman of the general jury at the festival was the eminent Korean film director Kim Ki-duk. His film Arirang, which is a boldly innovative film that won high accolades at the Cannes Film Festival, was shown at this festival much to the excitement of the audiences.
by Wimal Dissanayake