Adilkhan Yerzhanov

Director

August 7, 1982 (43 years)

Dzhezkazgan, Kazakh SSR, USSR (now Kazakhstan)

Biography

Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakh: Әділхан Ержанов; born August 7, 1982; Dzhezkazgan) is a Kazakh filmmaker, screenwriter, editor and producer. Member of the European Film Academy (since 2018). In 2009 he graduated from Kazakh National Academy of Arts with the major in “Film directing”. Adilkhan Yerzhanov is a two-time participant of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Program (“The Owners”, 2014, Official Selection, and “The Gentle Indifference of the World”, 2018, Un Certain Regard Section). Winner …

Filmography

4.4

Frozen

On a snow-covered highway near the northern town of Kostomuksha, police find the frozen corpse of a woman in a frozen car. The victim is the wife of investigator Evgeniy Rudin. The rage that has taken possession of the hero leads him along the path of senseless cruelty, the victims of which can be both innocent people and those close to Rudin. Evgeniy finds unexpected support in the face of a strange boy Mitya. Meanwhile, the killings continue.

N/A

Turgaud

A film about outlaws that breaks the rules of storytelling. A secretive man arrives at the airport—he has a job interview with the leader of a criminal syndicate. He decides to protect the gangster against the threat of a mysterious woman and her child, who want him dead. Violence is inevitable, but it manifests in enigmatic ways.

5.5

Steppenwolf

Tamara is searching for her missing son in a small town consumed by riots and violence. In a desperate attempt to get him back, she decides to offer a reward to an amoral former investigator whose methods prove to be sadistic. Determined, Tamara decides to complete the mission with the nihilistic detective, no matter what the cost.

5.7

Kazakh Scary Tales

A cop ventures into a remote village to investigate a gruesome series of inexplicable events and soon finds himself in the center of an otherworldly storm of local witchcraft and death. It becomes clear that the curse of Albasty, a spirit said to devour infants, is horrifyingly real. Produced as an anthology series, first three episodes premiering at Fantasia Film Festival as a feature film.

6.5

A Dark, Dark Man

A boy is murdered in Kazakh village. Detective Bekzat wants to wrap up the inquiries quickly: after all, the perpetrator has already been found by local police officers. But when a journalist arrives from the city, everything falls to pieces. For the first time in his career, Bekzat must conduct a real investigation according to procedure.

5.7

The Assault

Masked figures with machine guns march into the secondary school in Karatas, take the pupils hostage, and execute one of them. They make no demands. Silent terror is their modus operandi. Seeing as the army will take two days to arrive due to a snowstorm, maths teacher Tazshi decides to assemble his own assault team: his ex-wife, the gym teacher, the cowardly school principal, an alcoholic night watchman, the village idiot, and an incompetent chief of police.

1.0

Goliath

The Kazakh village Karatas has long been subjugated by a criminal boss called Poshaev. He provides housing and jobs for the locals but will ruthlessly execute anyone who dares to oppose him. This is the lesson the pauper Arzu is about to learn first-hand—his wife Karina has informed the police about the crimes that are taking place there. Arzu is a cripple; now he must raise his little daughter alone. He is so helpless and grief-stricken that he doesn’t even seem to be contemplating revenge. Poshaev takes him under his wing and offers him the position of a guard at a building site. Soon Arzu has a chance to prove his loyalty, and he becomes Poshaev’s right hand. But where do Arzu’s real loyalties lie—with his boss or with the idea of justice?

6.0

Yellow Cat

Ex-con Kermek and his beloved Eva want to leave their crime-infested lives on the Kazakh steppes behind. He has a dream: building a movie theater in the mountains. Will Kermek's love of Alain Delon be strong enough to keep them out of the violent clutches of the mafia?

7.0

Ulbolsyn

Life in Karatas Village runs along an untroubled path, until its patriarchal way of life is challenged by Ulbolsyn, a woman whose coldblooded heart and blazing temperament are not afraid of setting everything on fire.

5.1

The Gentle Indifference of the World

After her father's untimely death, Saltanat is forced to trade her idyllic countryside life for the cruel city. She has to find money to pay off the large family debt that her father left behind, in order to save her mother from jail. Friends since their village childhood, her loyal, but penniless admirer Kuandyk follows her just to make sure his sweetheart is safe. Saltanat's uncle introduces her to a possible groom, who promises to pay off her family's debts. But Saltanat's hopes are dashed, when she discovers that the men in this city don't keep their word. When Kuandyk tries to help Saltanat get the money through other ways, he ends up finding himself in more trouble than he bargained for. Although life keeps dealing them bad hands, Saltanat and Kuandyk never give up, no matter what the odds.

N/A

Atbai’s Fight

The film tells the story of a street thug Atbai, who decides to take part in MMA tournament, where the winners are already decided. But Atbai is going to win, because for him this victory is a chance to start a new life: to return to big sports and to get his beloved woman back.

6.3

Ademoka’s Education

Ademoka is a headstrong and gifted 15-year-old girl whose big dream is to study. Her status as Lyuli an illegal immigrant from Tajikistan is a serious obstacle to this. She is exploited by her extended family and forced to beg on the streets, she manages to free herself from the family, when they get deported she has to choose between family and education. She gets helped on the way by some oddball characters, who come to her aid against the corrupt system and the patriarchal family.

8.2

The Plague at the Karatas Village

A new mayor seeks the origins of a mysterious illness that is running rampant throughout a remote village.

5.4

The Owners

25 year-old John, his teenage brother Erbol, and their sickly 12 year-old sister Aliya, are forced to leave their house in the Kazakh city of Almaty. By luck their mother left them a house in a remote village, where they plan to prepare their comeback. But the house appears to be on the wish list of the District Officer’s alcoholic brother, who has lived there illegally for 10 years.

N/A

The Return of Zoya

Galya, an alcoholic procuress, has lost rights to her daughter, Zoya, who is to be put in an orphanage. Galya decides to kidnap Zoya, and, with her autistic boyfriend, Stasik, heads to Kazakhstan to find Zoya's biological father.

N/A

Realtor

Darik, a young man, wastes his life enjoying drinks, women and casinos. Suddenly he gets into the past, in a very strange and dangerous ancient time, surrounded by very strange and particular people.

N/A

The Constructors

Two brothers and their little sister are thrown out of their flat because they haven't paid the rent. The orphans pack up their few possessions and go out to the country, where the family owns a small plot of land. The children set up camp, knowing they have to fend for themselves. But this solution is insecure, too: they are told, in no uncertain terms, that all plots will shortly pass to the state unless at least the foundations of a house have been laid. The threesome get down to work, making night-time visits to neighboring sites to 'borrow' tools and materials, then building by day. But no sooner are the foundation walls complete than an unsympathetic policeman ad...

N/A

The Story of Kazakh Cinema – Underground of Kazakhfilm

A film director and an actor have worked till midnight at a film studio. A security guy locked all doors and so now our heroes have to look for an exit, walking through the studio and meeting various people on their way – famous Kazakh film directors, film critics and just strangers.

6.0

Cadet

Single mother Alina tries to enroll her son, Serik, in an elite military academy, but he is bullied by his classmates because of his girlish appearance, and the principal deems him unfit for the school. Alina succeeds in getting Serik reinstated by taking advantage of Serik's father's high military rank. But she is warned by a woman whose son has committed suicide at the school that Serik will follow the same path...

N/A

Night God

Two workers are having a leisurely conversation. More and more often people see in the sky red tails of comets, wonder creatures appear from nowhere and a roar is said to be coming from the underground. What is the meaning of it all? – asks one of them. The other replies that he has never seen anything like that in his life. And even if all of the above mentioned exists, is it worthwhile paying attention to it? The important thing is to do one’s job because life goes its own way.