East of the West - Competition 2008 / Tulpan / Germany, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Russia, Poland 2008
After completing compulsory military service, Asa returns to his homeland on the steppes of Kazakhstan, where he lives in a yurt with his sister and her family. In order to start a new life and become independent, the first thing he must do is marry. Wives are scarce in those parts however, and the beautiful Tulpan, who the matchmaker claims is ideal for him, has no desire for the woesome Asa on account of his ears, colloquially referred to as “wings”. Asa is not giving up though.
Asa has finished his compulsory military service, but his beautiful naval uniform is still the nicest thing he has to wear when setting out to court the comely Tulpan. Asa lives a traditional nomadic life with his sister, her husband and their children. The young man is expected to become independent, set up his own yurt and tend his own herd. But if he wants to earn his own living, the first thing he has to do is marry. Since there’s a shortage of single girls in the area, the visit to Tulpan’s yurt is very important. Indeed, the matchmaker claims that Tulpan is ideal for Asa. After a courteous interview with the girl’s parents, poor Asa finds out that Tulpan does not want to marry him because of his somewhat large and prominent ears. The young man doesn’t give up, however, and continues to dream about a life in the middle of the vast steppes that might not end up as he envisaged. In addition to its good-humoured storyline, this charming film offers stunning, exotic views of the Kazakh Steppe where Asa and his friend – the matchmaker – run around in a strange vehicle covered with pictures of naked women.
100 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Sergey Dvortsevoy
/ Screenplay Sergej Dvorcevoj / Sergey Dvortsevoy, Genadij Ostrovskij / Genadi Ostrovski
/ Dir. of Photography Jolanta Dylowska
/ Editor Isabel Meier
/ Producer Karl Baumgartner
/ Production Pandora Filmproduktions GmbH
/ Cast Askhat Kuchinchirekov, Tulepbergen Baisakalov, Samal Eslyamova, Ondasyn Besikbasov, Bereke Turganbayev
/ Contact The Match Factory, Pandora Film GmbH & Co. Verleih KG
Sergey Dvortsevoy (b. 1962, Kazakhstan) graduated from flight school in the Ukraine and from the Radio-Technical Institute in Novosibirsk; he worked for Aeroflot and was later accepted for the Higher Courses for Screenwriters and Directors in Moscow. He made a number of shorts and documentary films that were awarded at important international documentary festivals, including those in Leipzig and Nyon. His films offer a blend of naturalism and poetry, but his main interest lies in the faithful depiction of real life. His filmography includes Paradise (Shchastye, 1997), Bread Day (Khlebny den, 1998), Highway (1999) and In the Dark (V tyemnotye, 2004). Tulpan is his feature film debut.
The Match Factory
Domstrasse 60, 50668, Cologne
Germany
Phone: +49 221 539 7090
E-mail: [email protected]
Pandora Film GmbH & Co. Verleih KG
Lamprechtstr. 11a, 63739, Aschaffenburg
Germany
E-mail: [email protected]
Philipp Hoffmann
Sales Agent
Nicole Ringhut
Sales Agent
Sergey Dvortsevoy
Film Director
Thanassis Karathanos
Producer
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