An impressively picturesque drama about a French photographer’s intrusion into the life of a Kazakh woman. Screening as part of the contemporary programme of the Festival of Singular Films.
Longer Than a Day
- Date:
- 25 Sep 2024,
19:30–22:40
- Age restrictions
- 18+
2024, Malika Mukhamejan
Kazakhstan–Russia–Italy
122 minutes, Kazakh with Russian subtitles
Starring: Zukhara Sanzysbay, Elzhas Rahim, Vladimir Consigny, Erzhan Nurymbet
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Karlygash takes care of the cattle and horses, cleans the yard and the house, cooks for her husband and family—in short, she does everything that is expected of a woman in a Kazakh village. However, she is still regarded as an outsider, even by her own husband, who continues to hope for a reunion with his first love. Karlygash is left to search for mute answers to her longing in the vast sky above the steppe—but suddenly a French photographer, Louis, appears in this landscape. His old car needs repairs, and the guest is forced to stay in the village for a while.
Shot from Longer Than a Day, 2024
For major festivals this is an excellent film—sensuous, visually exquisite (apples, horses, a clear river), and also about the “liberated woman of the East.”
—Vasily Stepanov, Seance Magazine
In her first feature film, Malika Mukhamedzhan could well have limited herself to the story of a strange love triangle (or square, if we include the ex-girlfriend of Karlygash’s husband). The director has a subtle understanding of melodrama, and is sufficiently attentive to the actors’ faces and movements to prevent this melodrama from drifting into sentimentality. But Longer Than a Day is much more ambitious: this tale of alienation in a majestic, indifferent landscape does not fit into any genre boundaries, surprising viewers time after time with an unexpected angle, a mise-en-scene worthy of a classical painting, and a noble and mysterious intonation that bring to mind the works of Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Carlos Reygadas.
The world premiere of the film was held in the programme New Asian Talents at the Shanghai Film Festival. Winner of the special jury prize at the Window to Europe festival (2024).
The screening will begin with a brief speech by the curator in Russian. If you require interpretation into English, please request it at least three days in advance by emailing international@ges-2.org.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with director Malika Mukhamedzhan and lead actress Zukhara Sansyzbai.
