AKIPRESS.COM - Around 2000 films from 114 countries were nominated for the cultural festival "Nomad 2024: The Infinite Sky," which took place from September 18 to 22 in Naryn for the third consecutive year.

The festival aims to provide a platform for emerging filmmakers hailing from Central Asia and beyond to present their cinematographic visions and artistry. The Film Festival places emphasis on provincial imagery and narratives as well as urban life, contributing to the development of the film industry in Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan in particular.

The festival was organized by the University of Central Asia and took place on the university’s Naryn campus. KOLFEST – the Central Asia’s Art and Music Festival and the Cinematica cinema chain supported the event.

The festival’s jury, chaired by renowned director Ernest Abdyzhaparov, selected 39 films to be screened, representing a wide range of genres and styles, from documentaries and feature films to experimental works.

The following films were recognized as winners of the international festival.

International Competition:
• Best short film: Son, dir. Saman Hosseinpour (Iran).
• Best documentary: Gando, dir. Teymour Ghaderi (Iran).
• Jury mention: Memories of the Yellow River, Ji Shang (China)

Regional Professional Competition:
• Best film: Romeo, dir. Tynystan Temirzhan (Kyrgyzstan).
• Aylin's fairytales, dir. Asel Umaralieva, (Kyrgyzstan).
• Sabyr, dir. Marina Zibert, Damir Tanatov (Kazakhstan).

Student competition:
• Best Film: Moments that have gone, Saadat Sataeva, (Kyrgyzstan).
• The best visual solution: Scared, dir. Atom Children's Laboratory (Kyrgyzstan).
• The Most promising artist, The Choice dir. Gulnur Kalmukhambetova (Kazakhstan).

Audience Award: Islam: We Walk With You, dir. Kazuya Isobe (Japan)

The festival program also included an international competition for digital and virtual projects, an academic symposium, and exhibitions featuring local and international experts and scholars.