Kazakhstan Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Once upon a time. Before Prince Harry met wife Meghan Markle, he dated Cressida Bonas for two years.

Di'Shon Bernard, for a moment, looks down at the keyboard of the laptop he is speaking via in Sheffield Wednesday's media suite at their Middlewood Road training ground and starts reminiscing.

Naman Ramachandran The late Pema Tseden‘s “Snow Leopard” (China) won the top prize, the Golden Cyclo, at the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema on Tuesday. The film, which previously won awards at the Tokyo and Hainan festivals, also won Vesoul’s National Institute of Oriental Languages ​​and Civilizations (INALCO) jury prize and actor Tseten Tashi scored a jury special mention. Pema Tseden (aka Wanmacaidan) died in May last year, age 53.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The ninth edition of London’s Focus, the production sector event, attracted a record number of attendees this year. More than 3,500 delegates, exhibitors and sponsors from 84 countries attended the event, which ran Dec. 6-7.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.K. based sales and distribution outfit Blue Finch Films has boarded worldwide rights to thriller “Steppenwolf” from writer-director Adilkhan Yerzhanov, whose credits include the Cannes selected titles “The Owners” and “The Gentle Indifference of the World.” The film will have its world premiere at next month’s International Film Festival Rotterdam as part of the Big Screen Competition. “Steppenwolf” is a brutal story of an unlikely duo who will stop at nothing to find what they are looking for.

Christopher Vourlias While the war in Ukraine has upended global geopolitics and ratcheted up tensions between Russia and the West, the impact has been especially profound across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where many inhabitants have themselves been the victims of Moscow’s aggression in the past. In Kazakhstan, which shares the world’s longest land border with Putin’s rogue state and was the last of the former Soviet republics to achieve independence, the past two years have not only seen the disruption of traditional political and economic ties but accelerated a process of uncoupling from Russian language and culture.

Christopher Vourlias Siberian-born entrepreneur Arsen Tomsky is not your typical tech mogul. The CEO of the California-based technology company inDrive got his start far from Silicon Valley, when he designed a ride-hailing app in his native Yakutsk to compete with the cartels that controlled the local taxi industry.

Christopher Vourlias Three decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, an emerging generation of filmmakers born and raised in the independent countries of Central Asia is giving an exhilarating charge to the region’s cinema and helping to put their unheralded industries on the map. Leading Kazakh film critic Gulnara Abikeyeva says these “children of independence” are bringing a “new attitude” to the screen and giving a jolt of energy to emerging industries that for decades were under Moscow’s thumb.

Christopher Vourlias The first edition of the Alternativa Film Project wrapped with an award ceremony this weekend in Almaty, the cultural capital of Kazakhstan, with filmmakers from Central Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region being feted as part of a new initiative launched by the California-based tech company inDrive, best known for its ride-hailing app. The event marked a successful close to what organizers hope will be an ongoing non-profit initiative aimed at supporting emerging filmmakers from under-developed film industries.

EXCLUSIVE: Bob Yari, producer of Oscar winner Crash and exec producer on TV series including Yellowstone and The Mayor Of Kingstown, and his WonderHill Studios partner Marvin Peart (The War With Grandpa), are teaming up with the Georgian government and Eastern European and Central Asian investment firm Silk Road Group in a bid to grow the number of Hollywood film and TV productions filming in Georgia.

Naman Ramachandran Tatino Films, a French production and consultancy company involved in industry events in Asia and Europe, has teamed with Kazakhstan-based Alternativa Film Project and the Philippines’ QCinema Project Market for three film residencies. The partnership will yield two Pop Up film residencies called the Pop Up Alternativa Awards for filmmakers from Central Asia and one Pop Up QCFC (Quezon City Film Commission) x QCinema Award for Southeast Asian filmmakers to develop their upcoming film projects.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two films from Japan, Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” and Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” won the top prizes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Friday. Multiple other honors went to films from Korea and Kazakhstan. The 16th edition of the APSA Awards was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and recognized films from eight countries. “Perfect Days,” a gentle comedy drama about a toilet cleaner in Tokyo finding happiness in the everyday, premiered in Cannes and more recently was selected as Japan’s Oscar contender and as the opening title of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Vietnam-based sales agent Skyline Media has closed multi-territory deals for two of its current titles “The Soul Reaper” and “Vietnamese Horror Story.” The deals follow Skyline’s recent trip to Busan’s ACFM and come ahead of its participation as exhibitor at a string of further final quarter sales events – Tokyo’s TIFFCOM, Santa Monica’s American Film Market and Taipei’s Taiwan Creative Content Fest. Folk horror film “The Soul Reaper,” currently in the final stages of post-production, was licensed to GaragePlay for Taiwan and to Westec Media Limited (WML) for Laos, Cambodia and nine other Southeast Asian territories. The film, adapted from Thao Trang’s best-selling horror novel “Lunar New Year in Hell Village” (aka “Tet O Lang Dia Nguc”), is set to be released in Vietnam cinemas on 08 December. GaragePlay is one of Taiwan’s leading distributors, and recently handles releases of “Suzume,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “Someday or One Day.” WML is the biggest content distributor in Cambodia and has distributed more than 1,000 titles theatrically since its establishment.

Naman Ramachandran Aizhan Kassymbek‘s Kazakh film “Madina,” world premiering at the Tokyo International Film Festival‘s Asian Future strand, aims to shatter patriarchy both on and off screen. On screen, the film is based on the real life story of Kassymbek’s friend Madina Akylbek, who also plays the lead role. Set in the harsh Kazakhstan winter, the film follows single mother, dancer and breadwinner Madina, who struggles to take care of her old grandmother, a withdrawn younger brother and a two-year-old daughter.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist” collected four nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, making it the narrow favorite ahead of the three times nominated “Snow Leopard,” by the late Pema Tseden. The narrow lead matches the overall pattern this year’s, where Japanese and Chinese films dominate APSA nominations proceedings. Nominations were announced at midnight on Thursday in Gold Coast, Queensland, where the final awards will be celebrated on Nov. 3. “Evil Does Not Exist,” an eco-drama that premiered in Venice, is nominated in best film, best director, best screenplay and cinematography categories.

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest feature, Evil Does Not Exist, leads this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) with four nods, including the gong for Best Film. 

Anna Marie de la Fuente In what signals a new source of financing for Central Asia’s nascent film industry, Mountain View, California-based tech company inDrive, best known for its bid-based ride hailing service, is getting into the film business. The tech giant, founded by CEO Arsen Tomsky, has launched Alternativa Film Project, a global non-profit film initiative aimed at supporting emerging filmmakers from less developed film industries, starting with Central Asia this year.

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill has been impressed by Jonny Evans’ displays for Manchester United in pre-season and hopes talks over a short-term contract will soon conclude.

After a blowout debut weekend, Barbenheimer showed strong continued momentum at the international box office on Monday. Warner Bros’ Barbie for its part had the best Monday ever for the studio overseas at $32M from 69 markets (it also scored the studio’s best Monday domestically). The running offshore total through yesterday is $226.3M, bringing the global Kenergy to $414.4M.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Eastern Promises industry strand has unveiled the winners of it’s project showcases, which took place at the fest from July 2-4.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Assel Aushakimova’s dark comedy about journalism in Kazakhstan “Bikechess” has won the Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Works in Progress award, which runs as part of the festival’s industry section, Eastern Promises. The section is focused on feature film projects from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa. The Kazakh film follows Dina, who works as a journalist for the national television station. The stories she is asked to report on are becoming increasingly absurd and full of praise for the government. Her love life is limited to a few secret meetings with her married camera­man. Dina looks after her young sis­ter, a lesbian activist, who regularly finds herself in trouble with the au­thorities.

Paramount+ crime-thriller Bargain, Prime Video’s absurdist comedy I’m a Virgo and Greek infertility dramedy Babython were among the awards series winners at last week’s Seriencamp in Germany.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Sunday,” by Uzbekistan-based director Shokir Kholikov, was Thursday named best film in the Asian New Talent section of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival. The Asian New Talent Awards are called Golden Goblet Awards, but are separate from the festival’s official competition section, and favor new and emerging talent. The main competition jury will hand out its Golden Goblets on Sunday. The best director prize in the Asian New Talent section was shared by two helmers: China’s Luo Dong won for “May.” So too did Kazakhstan’s Aisultan Seit for “Qash.” Luo previously attended the Shanghai festival’s project market ten years ago and has since completed one other film.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The International Olympic Committee said on Thursday that Swiss-based, Chinese-owned Infront Sports & Media would handle broadcast right sales in much of Asia for the next series of Summer and Winter games. The deal covers 22 territories including Afghanistan, Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – but not China, Japan or South Korea, and runs 2026-2032. That means it will cover the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Summer games. The 2030 Winter Olympics, which have yet to be allocated a host, and all Youth Olympic Games during this period will also be covered.

An expert has warned that infighting between the military and Vladimir Putin could be the beginning of the end of the Russian warmonger.

Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has unveiled the major competition selections for its 25th edition (June 9-18), which will be the first to be held in a fully physical format with international guests since before the pandemic. 

exposé that led to widespread criticism of the HFPA over its demographics and allegations of awards campaign misconduct. With a voting body that now totals 310, including its current 95 members, the move surpasses its previous pledge to increase the body’s size and diversity.

When the last of Catherine's three children left the family home in Didsbury, she and her husband were at a loss what to do with the space.

Mike Tyson sits front row to watch the final match between Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Petra Kvitova of Czechia against at the Miami Open tennis tournament at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday (April 1) in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Bournemouth and Denmark midfielder Philip Billing believes that Atalanta striker Rasmus Hojlund would be the perfect fit for Manchester United.

Denmark striker Rasmus Højlund is the leading scorer after the opening set of qualifying matches for Euro 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: Los Angeles-based Russian-Kazakh director and producer Timur Bekmambetov has secured Turkish backing for his animated feature about iconic Middle Eastern and Asian folk hero Hodja Nasreddin.

Elena Rybakina is the champion!

EXCLUSIVE: Writer-director Aysulu Onaran (Balaban) has wrapped principal photography on her latest feature film, Rebirth Island. The film is a historical spy thriller based on true events from the Cold War.

Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish had a happy Valentine’s Day, swashbuckling to a new global milestone. The spinoff sequel crossed $400M with Tuesday’s numbers bringing the worldwide kitty to $401.5M. The split is $160.1M domestic and $241.4M at the international box office. 

Hainan Island International Film Festival (HIIFF) in China’s Sanya has returned as an in-person event, following a relatively short Covid-related postponement, with separate competition sections for features, documentaries and shorts.