Sulayman too (2017)

Sulayman too: Directed by Elizaveta Stishova. With Talant Asanaliev, Gulsina Chotonova, Daniel Daiyrbekov, Turgunai Erkinbekova. Karabas (Asset Imangaliev) is a difficult man: a hard-gambling, hard-drinking, child-in-a-man’s body who puts only himself first in his family. When his wife #1, Zhipara (Perizat Ermanbetova), calls to tell him she has found their long-lost son, Uluk (Daniel Dayrbekov), Karabas rushes to her, much to the dismay of his much younger, pregnant wife #2, Turganbyubyu (Turgunai Erkinbekova). Soon the new family dynamics are stretched past their limits, and Karabas is caught between his old ways and the two women bearing his sons: one re-born and one yet to come. Now this unusual family must decide if they are to co-exist or tear each other apart as old wounds are ripped open and deception becomes the rule of the day. Shot on location in and around the mystic World Heritage Site of the Suleiman Mountain in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, SULEIMAN MOUNTAIN tells the coming of age story of a grown man who must first lose love in order to find it.

“Elizaveta Stishovau0026#39;s directorial debut Suleiman Mountain, takes us to Kyrgyzstan in this story about a family of grifters. The titular, mystical peak stands as a silent witness to the constant stream of turmoil brought on a nomadic family by their patriarchal head, a charismatic, but drunk, con-man. When one of his two wives brings home their long lost son, the young boy not only changes the family dynamic, but offers the moral compass they lack. Like the stark landscapes of Kyrgyzstan contrasted with the multicolored textures u0026amp; patterns of the textiles throughout, this poignant family drama is balanced by interjections of organic comedy. nThe resolution felt hurried, but also little kinks to be expected of a first-time filmmaker lost a few stars for me.”