Fifteen year old Mustafa has a nickname Schizo. He is hired by his mother’s boyfriend to find fighters for illegal fistfights. His life is changed forever when a young man mortally beaten in one of the fights asks Schizo to deliver his prize money to his girlfriend and young son. Schizo takes the money to the woman as promised and falls in love with her. Now he knows for whom he has to make money, no matter what the cost. In fistfights there are no rules… until blood is spilled!
Acting
Oldzhas Nusupbayev's volcanic stillness—never acted before this.
Cinematography
Bleached Kazakh steppes that swallow hope whole.
Direction
Omarova's unsentimental gaze at post-Soviet desperation.
Director
Gulshat Omarova
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lead actor Oldzhas Nusupbayev was a complete non-professional discovered in an Almaty boxing gym; director Gulshat Omarova spent months convincing him to take the role.
The illegal fight clubs depicted were based on real post-Soviet 'kumis' boxing circuits where unemployed men fought for food and alcohol, a phenomenon Omarova researched extensively in rural Kazakhstan. The film's original title 'Shiza' is slang derived from 'schizophrenic,' reflecting how locals viewed anyone choosing such brutal work.
KZ
