Latest news with #ZhananaKurmasheva
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘We Live Here' Examines an Ex-Soviet Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan: a 'Paradox Etched Into Land'
'On a desolate former nuclear test site, three generations confront the haunting legacy of the past as they fight for survival and hope in a world on the brink of destruction,' reads the synopsis for director Zhanana Kurmasheva's debut feature We Live Here (Atameken). The documentary about the lasting impact of a former Soviet nuclear test site in Kazakhstan will world premiere Sunday at CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, which opened in Denmark's capital Wednesday and runs through March 30. On the vast steppes of Kazakhstan, although years have passed since the tests, 'the past is still haunting the site,' notes the synopsis of the film, which was produced by Banu Ramazanova. 'Between 1949 and 1991, 456 nuclear tests left a legacy of radioactive contamination at the Semipalatinsk test site where one couple, convinced that their daughter's illness stems from radiation, seeks proof.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Expect Shades of Walter White, Tony Soprano in Sean Bean Liverpool Crime Epic 'This City Is Ours' Courtney Love is Making Her U.K. Move Permanent, Calls Trump 2.0 "Emperor-core" Eva Longoria to Receive Platino Honor Award in Recognition of Her Contribution to U.S. Film and TV With the steppe serving as a haunting metaphor for the broader world — or even the entire planet — Kurmasheva's debut feature 'is a chilling and cinematic work, with each carefully arranged image contributing to a whole that only grows in existential gravity and historical scale as the film progresses,' the CPH:DOX website says. The movie, the first-ever film from Kazakhstan to screen at the Copenhagen festival, will debut as one of 12 entries in its Dox:Award: international competition lineup. 'There have been many films and TV series about this topic in our country because it's part of the wounds of our nation,' Kurmasheva explains to THR. 'So some of the locals are tired of talking about it because they have not seen many results. But my mother was born there. And for me, this story is not just something to cry about. Of course, it's awful. But first of all, it's about realizing what it means for us, and what we can do. Especially because [in our culture] it's our habit not to talk but just hide your feelings and thoughts.' When she first arrived in the area of the former nuclear test site to start work on her doc, the filmmaker immediately sensed how different the place felt. 'I'm Kazakh, and I know what the steppe is. But this steppe was totally different,' she recalls. 'My first question was where is the fence, where are the signs, how can I know where the radiation starts? You are in the center of the steppe, and you feel like you're alone on the planet, and you cannot hear anything else around, and you cannot see the horizon.' She continues: 'And when I talked with the local people, it was very hard to accept that we can do this to our people. Yes, the Soviet Union did all of that but what about us now? Why are we so indifferent to each other? It's our people, it's my nation. Why am I so indifferent? Why is our government so indifferent?' Highlighting the bigger global story behind the local stories, she also emphasizes that humans may cause their own extinction, but the planet could survive. 'Our nature is much stronger than us, and we are little, little creators who try to fight each other, but it's all that like nothing when you compare it to Earth,' she shares. Getting into Copenhagen is 'a stepping stone for our documentary community back home,' Ramazanova tells THR. 'In Central Asia, documentaries are more traditionally on TV, and people don't take it as seriously as a creative . So this is a big push for our industry and for Central Asia.' She adds: 'We have been getting a lot of calls from Kazakhstan and Kurdistan, congratulating us, because it's an opportunity to turn people's eyes to Central Asia. And learning from CPH will help us share that knowledge with others in our film community.' Sales agent Syndicado, which recently boarded the film, will also look to sell it to various parts of the world. 'In Central Asia, to make an impact, you have to first make an impact abroad,' producer Ramazanova tells THR. 'You're not validated here until critics and experts from Europe, Asia or the U.S. say that your film is important. And we do want to make an impact back home.' The director and producer already have a new doc in mind. 'We do have our second feature that is in early development,' Ramazanova shares. 'We're staying in the field of ecology. The second feature is about mass consumerism.' She can even share some more details: 'It is about the path of one T-shirt — the cotton comes from Central Asia, it goes to Uzbekistan to become a fabric, and then it will end up in Chile, in the biggest [clothing landfill],' she says. 'So it's about being mindful about work and buying a lot of stuff.' We Live Here also feeds into a big hot-button topic of debate at a time when post-Soviet Union countries, including Ukraine, that gave up their nuclear arsenals have been debating whether they should bring back nuclear weapons in a world full of conflict. 'It's kind of a circle of history,' says Kurmasheva. 'Humanity repeats what we did before. It's a circle that we're stuck in, and we cannot see how we can communicate with each other without weapons, without fighting.' We Live Here's original title, Atameken, means 'My Sacred Land.' The director says the phrase explains why locals stay in an area hit by radioactivity even when others may not understand that decision: 'I was born here. It's very special for me,' she says. 'It is also related to independence and being decolonized. It's where their grandparents were born and where they're buried. They cannot leave that place.' Concludes Kurmasheva: 'It's maybe a small place but it is the place where they live. But we all only have one place, only one Earth where we can live.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked 20 Times the Oscars Got It Wrong The Best Anti-Fascist Films of All Time
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘We Live Here,' About a Former Soviet Nuclear Test Site, Boarded by Syndicado Ahead of CPH:DOX Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)
Sales agent Syndicado has boarded Zhanana Kurmasheva's feature doc debut 'We Live Here,' ahead of its world premiere at CPH:DOX, where it will compete for the DOX:AWARD. 'We Live Here' follows three generations in the desolate Kazakh steppe, once a Soviet nuclear test site, as they confront the place's haunting legacy. More from Variety 'Adobe of Down,' About a Religious Community in Siberia, Picked Up by Taskovski Ahead of CPH:DOX Premiere (EXCLUSIVE) Greenwich Entertainment Acquires Peter Miller's 'Marcella,' Sets May Theatrical Release (EXCLUSIVE) Documentary About Flaco, Owl Who Escaped Central Park Zoo, in Production at HBO Between 1949 and 1991, 456 nuclear tests left a legacy of radioactive contamination and suffering. As ecologists map uninhabitable areas, a nearby family struggles with the echoes of the past. Convinced their daughter's illness stems from radiation, they seek proof while she feels torn between love for her homeland and the sense of looming danger it still holds. Kurmasheva explains: 'My connection to this story is personal. My mother, born near the village of Kainar where nuclear tests left their mark, would warn me: 'Don't tell anyone where I'm from. Especially not any future suitors. People think we're sick.' This stigma follows the people of Semipalatinsk wherever they go. To this day, locals speak of the shame and fear tied to their origins. The world sees them as damaged, marked by the radiation that still haunts their homeland.' She adds: 'This film is about resilience: of the land and of the people. Their lives intertwine with the steppe in ways that are deeply human. Together, they navigate the aftermath of destruction, clinging to hope and dignity despite the scars they carry.' Kurmasheva participated in a number of international workshops and training programs, such as the East-West Talent Lab at goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film in 2022. She is the laureate of the 2011 Kulaguer Award for her student documentary 'I Am 20 Years Old!' Her short documentary 'Zhenya' (2013) was showcased at film festivals in Moscow, New York, Yerevan, Sevastopol and Almaty. 'We Live Here' is produced by Banu Ramazanova. The film was supported by Kazakh Cinema: State Center for Support of National Cinema, the EFM Doc Toolbox program, Eurasia Doc (Doc Monde) Script Development Residency, Alternativa Development Lab, GZDOC (Top 10 Documentary Projects), and Tokyo Docs, where it won Best Pitch. Best of Variety What's Coming to Disney+ in March 2025 What's Coming to Netflix in March 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
