

A 15-minute Kyrgyz village holiday where a boy's big day reveals everything and nothing.
Lyrical tragicomedy. The eyes of the young hero, who will go through the rite of circumcision, shows the life of a Kyrgyz village on a holiday day.
Direction
Egen's patient eye lets village life breathe and haunt.
Cinematography
Golden-hour Kyrgyzstan that aches with beauty and unease.

Director
Nurbek Egen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Nurbek Egen shot this as his diploma film at VGIK, Russia's legendary film school.
Sanzhyra refers to a Kyrgyz genealogical tradition; the film's title winks at how rituals preserve and erase identity simultaneously.