IX International Film Festival in Moscow. Television and Cinema of Kyrgyzstan in the 70s - Early 80s. Part - 12
The film by Tolomush Okeeva "lit up" the festival screen of the Moscow International in 1975...
Above the Moscow River, a multitude of languages can be heard. Filmmakers from five continents—guests and participants of the IX International Film Festival, journalists took a stroll this Sunday along the Moscow Canal on the three-decked riverboat "Valery Chkalov." The IX International, held in Moscow from July 10 to 23, 1975, became the most representative of all previous ones: more than one and a half thousand filmmakers from a hundred countries arrived in the Soviet capital, and over seven hundred representatives of the press, television, and radio from many countries of the world were accredited at the press center. The honor of opening the festival was given to the film created at "Kyrgyzfilm" based on a story by Chinghiz Aitmatov, directed by Tolomush Okeeva. "The Red Apple" "lit up" the festival screen of the Moscow International in 1975...
July, Moscow summer... Guests from Libya sing "Katyusha," a director from Yugoslavia and an actor from the GDR converse in Russian without a translator, while together with new friends they keep the rhythm of the Cuban dance performed by Gulsara Adzhibekova and Suymenkul Chokmorov... English director Antonio Gruiner shows keen interest in asking filmmakers from Frunze questions. He pays particular attention to Okeeva's work.
— Tolomush is my friend,— says Antonio. — I met him recently during his trip to England with the film "Fierce." We presented "Fierce" together to the English audience. This talented film rightfully received wide acclaim from the public and generated enormous interest from the press... I eagerly await Tolomush's new works. — Glancing at Chokmorov's ak-kolpak, Gruiner remarked. — I have one too—Tolomush gifted it to me.
Chokmorov and Adzhibekova are the center of attention for the festival guests... Suymenkul was already familiar to them from his previous works. Gulsara became known here, at the festival, debuting in "The Red Apple." Everyone with whom I spoke noted the deep inner dignity of Adzhibekova's performance and the sincerity of the character she created.
The IX International was in full swing. The first issue of the magazine "Festival Satellite," published in Russian, English, and French, dedicated a large selection of materials—interviews with Ch. Aitmatov and T. Okeeva, a creative portrait of S. Chokmorov, film stills, and the cover—to the film from Kyrgyzstan.
The first impressions of the viewers immediately after the screening:
— The situation is life-like and convincing. The film's bright sadness, I think, will linger in the soul for a long time... (F. Kachalov, physicist);
— To be honest, I was even surprised by such deep feelings in a modern man... Chokmorov's performance is convincing; you believe in his character (E. Dracheva, pediatrician);
— The music in the film is beautiful. The cinematography is very interesting (I. Shashkova, tenth grader);
— I have never been to Kyrgyzstan, but I already imagine its beauty—snowy mountains, green gardens, and what about the sea... I want to go to Kyrgyzstan! (R. Popova, accountant);
— The film is psychologically truthful and, in my opinion, very relevant (A. Medvedev, architect).
The mid-70s were marked by a softening of international tensions. The ensuing détente was characteristic not only of politics. ...The eastern lobby of the "Russia" hotel, resembling a disturbed beehive flooded with the light of "Jupiter" lamps, buzzed with excited voices, hummed with the motors of photo and film cameras, and flickered with television screens. Televisions were turned on everywhere—in the press center, in the press club, in the lobbies. A live broadcast from space was underway...
The launch and docking of the spacecraft "Soyuz-19" and "Apollo" was the number one event. Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov and American astronaut Thomas Stafford sent greetings to the IX International Film Festival: "Now, high above the Earth, we are creating a film about the first meeting in orbit... We want to express our confidence that the festival will help bring the peoples of planet Earth closer together through cinema, fostering understanding between each other..."
On the day of the "Soyuz-19" launch, famous American actor and singer Dean Reed arrived at the festival: — The meeting of Soviet people with my compatriots in space is an epoch-making event. I believe that they are up there, and we are here at the festival, making one common cause through our meetings...
We met American actress and director Loretta Paukner last year in Tashkent at the III International Festival of Asia and Africa. — I still remember Okeeva's film "Fierce,"— says Loretta,— I talked about "Fierce" back home: about the interesting, talented work of the director and cinematographer. About the expressive, professionally flawless work of Chokmorov. Suymenkul is my favorite actor! He opened up in a new way in "The Red Apple." Undoubtedly, he is an actor of great potential. I would very much like to cast him in my future film...
The beginning of the space experiment coincided with an important event at the festival—a discussion among filmmakers, titled after the motto of the Moscow festival: "For the Humanism of Cinematic Art, for Peace and Friendship Among Peoples." Brotherhood—in space and on Earth. This is how the summer of '75 was remembered... For the first time, in the pavilions of "Lenfilm," a joint shooting of "The Blue Bird" with the American company "20th Century Fox" was underway.
The Creative Friendship of Hamraev and Chokmorov. Television and Cinema of Kyrgyzstan in the 70s - early 80s. Part - 11
