The film "Cat" by a fourteen-year-old Kyrgyz girl made it to the shortlist at a festival in Italy.

The film "Kat" by 15-year-old Kyrgyz girl Alina Koshmatova

The artistic short film "Kat" by 15-year-old Kyrgyz girl Alina Koshmatova has made it to the shortlist of the international Corti a Ponte Short Film Festival, which has been held in Italy since 2008.

“Our daughter Alina's creativity continues to conquer international film festivals! The Corti a Ponte Short Film Festival is a festival in Italy aimed at film education and engaging audiences of all ages.

Her film made it to the top 50 films (shortlist) out of 1800. Participants include 84 countries,” wrote the young director's mother, Aigul Koshmatova, on her social media page.

Previously, this film won an award in one of the categories at the republican children's film festival "Karek" and earned the right to be shown in cinemas across the republic and to represent the film art of the Kyrgyz Republic at international children's film festivals. Subsequently, the film by the young director was included in the competitive program of the IX international film festival "Kyrgyzstan - the country of short films." And now Alina Koshmatova's film continues to conquer screens abroad.

The Corti a Ponte festival in Italy primarily focuses on film education and training the viewing audience of all ages. The short film by our talented compatriot made it into the cohort of the top 50 films out of 1,800 participants from 84 countries around the world, presenting their cinematic works to an international jury.

The film forum in Italy is the only international festival with a children's section open to young authors aged three to 16 years. This festival is one of the fastest-growing forums for short films. In addition to the creative competition of national and international films, the festival also hosts a children's film competition that has evolved from a non-competitive screening.

Alina Koshmatova's film tells the difficult fate of migrant children. The center of the film "Kat" is the story of two sisters who live in a village with their elderly grandmother. The sisters' mother has gone to another country for work. In their letters, they share their feelings and deep love for each other. The daily household chores fall on the shoulders of the older sister, but the girls strive to support each other in all their daily joys and sorrows.