DIRECTOR & SCRIPTWRITER ADILKHAN ERZHANOV 

CAMERA EDIGE NESIPBEKOV 

DESIGN ERMEK UTEGENOV 

CAST: AIBEK KUDABAEV, NURBEK MUKUSHEV, TOLGANAI TALGAT (TORI), KONSTANTIN KOZLOV 

PRODUCERS SERIK ABISHEV, OLGA KHLASCHEVA

PRODUCTION SHORT BROTHERS

 

WORLD SALES

SHORT BROTHERS

KINOSTUDIA_KAZ@MAIL.RU

 

A young akim (mayor) is dispatched from the town to rule the far-away village of Karatas. The official is brimming with ideas about organizing the life in the village. But the local authorities do not welcome the akim. They are hiding a lot and covering something up. Evidently there is some epidemic in the village. The symptoms are similar to those of the bubonic plague. The villagers try to persuade the akim that it is no more than a variety of flu. The official starts the investigation and discovers that for a hundred years the village has been victim to plague epidemics, but the authorities keep overspending the budget for the vaccines, that is why it is contrary to their interests to acknowledge the fact of the disease and to fight it. The villagers themselves are used to it, without it they risk blending with the town, losing their own culture. The plague has become a shield for the traditions and prejudices in the village of Karatas. The akim’s struggle with the plague turns into struggle with the old ways.

ADILKHAN ERZHANOV

Born in 1982 in Dzhezkazgan, the Kazakh Republic. In 2009 graduated from the Kazakh National Academy of Arts (class of D.Manabay). Made some documentaries. His features “Realtor” (2011), “Constructors” (2012), “The Owners” (2014) won many professional awards and prizes at international film festivals. He is the author of the documentary “History of Kazakh Cinema” (2015) made as part of the project “Power of Asian Cinema”.