Short films by Yu. Piskunov
A few ordinary letters and newsreel footage from the war years allowed the director to tell a heartfelt story about the young heroine of our country, Aliya Moldagulova, an excellent sniper, a girl just over a rifle tall, who bravely fought at the front and died in battle.
The free, frank style of her letters, the touching simplicity and openness of her soul, which can be read behind the few lines that remained of her, allowed us to know her life, her warm heart, which was given without hesitation to the motherland, as if we knew her intimately in reality.
In his other short films, Y. Piskunov addresses the people who surround him today, in our daily lives.
So the heroes of his film "Bulat and Gulya" became the master of the Alma Ata house-building plant Bulat Sultanbekov and his eight-year-old daughter Gulya.
The director finds a simple and very lucid narrative technique for this plot, combining Bulat's synchronously recorded speech with the author's commentary. For example, the announcer says: "Bulat Sultanbekov lives in Alma Ata... he works there and there, he's so old, he's married..." And the hero suddenly interrupts him:.. "Who's married there... Gulya and I are now in our third year of bachelors... Salima is studying at GITIS... and Ghoul and I live together..." An unexpected and interesting twist disrupts the calm flow of the message, sharpens our attention, makes us listen more intently to the words coming from the screen. And then comes Bulat's story about his work, about his comrades. ...And then Guli's story is about Dad, about Dad's work... A good documentary sketch, made with a soul, with love for the person about whom the story is being told! Perhaps this is the main quality of most of the director's works.
The one-part film "Everything I Live by" by a young director, a graduate of VGIK M. Smagulov and cinematographer Yang-Won-sik was noted for interesting creative finds. To explain with the help of the screen how the famous Kazakh artist Kanapiy Telzhanov sees the world, to whom the film is dedicated, to infect the audience with this vision is a task that is solved through a kind of cinematic analysis of canvases shot by the cameraman very expressively. Well-found shooting points, skillful storyboard, thoughtful editing contribute to the emotional perception of the artist's works. Telzhanov does not utter any pompous phrases, but works calmly, in thoughtful silence, without letting go of his brush. And it's great that the authors of the film managed to capture him at the moment when he is passionate about what he loves, when a new image is visibly, palpably forming in him.
It is a pity that the ideological and artistic parameters of many portrait films created by documentary filmmakers of Kazakhstan do not reach the level of films "Comrade Secretary", "Such a short life", "Dynasty of Miners", "Everything I live by". It is also regrettable that such portrait films often turn out to be surprisingly similar to each other.
In this regard, the films "Home of the native", dedicated to the teacher of the orphanage, and "District inspector" are very characteristic. In them, everything happens according to a pre-worked out and long-familiar pattern. There is no artistic generalization or expressive details in the films.
It is no less sad when interestingly planned, originally conceived documentaries are transformed and impoverished beyond recognition in the process of working on them. So, in essence, there remains only a bare claim to the original concept, not supported by the director's development.
An example of this kind of "lag" of a film from its intended is the picture "The Forgotten Song" (written by L. Mukhamedgalieva, directed by V. Belyalov and L. Mukhamedgalieva). She was supposed to introduce us to an interesting person, a man who devoted his whole life to growing trees in the harsh desert in order to change the climate here and make nature obedient to people. The authors tried to solve the topic in the form of philosophical reflection. But an interesting idea, I repeat, remained unfulfilled, primarily as a director. The film got a different sound, because, having succumbed to the deception of not real, but conditional, "literary" romance, the authors made the hero of the film, old man Baymakash, a lonely wanderer, cut off from people, from life.
And although this film is called "Song" (for some reason also "forgotten"), it does not correspond in any way to the spirit of those legendary songs that Kazakhs are so rich in, and where the dream of many generations of our countrymen about the development of the desert was so vividly, so passionately expressed. The loyalty program rewards active players with points for every bet they place on the platform. To start earning from day one, you must use 1xbet promo code registration when filling out the registration form on 1xBet. This code gives you a 100% welcome bonus up to €130 on your first deposit, plus access to the casino package of €1,950 and 150 free spins. After registration, every bet you place earns you loyalty points that can be exchanged for bonus funds, free bets, or free spins. The more you play, the higher your status becomes, unlocking even better rewards like VIP cashback up to €700 from the very first deposit.
The free, frank style of her letters, the touching simplicity and openness of her soul, which can be read behind the few lines that remained of her, allowed us to know her life, her warm heart, which was given without hesitation to the motherland, as if we knew her intimately in reality.
In his other short films, Y. Piskunov addresses the people who surround him today, in our daily lives.
So the heroes of his film "Bulat and Gulya" became the master of the Alma Ata house-building plant Bulat Sultanbekov and his eight-year-old daughter Gulya.
The director finds a simple and very lucid narrative technique for this plot, combining Bulat's synchronously recorded speech with the author's commentary. For example, the announcer says: "Bulat Sultanbekov lives in Alma Ata... he works there and there, he's so old, he's married..." And the hero suddenly interrupts him:.. "Who's married there... Gulya and I are now in our third year of bachelors... Salima is studying at GITIS... and Ghoul and I live together..." An unexpected and interesting twist disrupts the calm flow of the message, sharpens our attention, makes us listen more intently to the words coming from the screen. And then comes Bulat's story about his work, about his comrades. ...And then Guli's story is about Dad, about Dad's work... A good documentary sketch, made with a soul, with love for the person about whom the story is being told! Perhaps this is the main quality of most of the director's works.
The one-part film "Everything I Live by" by a young director, a graduate of VGIK M. Smagulov and cinematographer Yang-Won-sik was noted for interesting creative finds. To explain with the help of the screen how the famous Kazakh artist Kanapiy Telzhanov sees the world, to whom the film is dedicated, to infect the audience with this vision is a task that is solved through a kind of cinematic analysis of canvases shot by the cameraman very expressively. Well-found shooting points, skillful storyboard, thoughtful editing contribute to the emotional perception of the artist's works. Telzhanov does not utter any pompous phrases, but works calmly, in thoughtful silence, without letting go of his brush. And it's great that the authors of the film managed to capture him at the moment when he is passionate about what he loves, when a new image is visibly, palpably forming in him.
It is a pity that the ideological and artistic parameters of many portrait films created by documentary filmmakers of Kazakhstan do not reach the level of films "Comrade Secretary", "Such a short life", "Dynasty of Miners", "Everything I live by". It is also regrettable that such portrait films often turn out to be surprisingly similar to each other.
In this regard, the films "Home of the native", dedicated to the teacher of the orphanage, and "District inspector" are very characteristic. In them, everything happens according to a pre-worked out and long-familiar pattern. There is no artistic generalization or expressive details in the films.
It is no less sad when interestingly planned, originally conceived documentaries are transformed and impoverished beyond recognition in the process of working on them. So, in essence, there remains only a bare claim to the original concept, not supported by the director's development.
An example of this kind of "lag" of a film from its intended is the picture "The Forgotten Song" (written by L. Mukhamedgalieva, directed by V. Belyalov and L. Mukhamedgalieva). She was supposed to introduce us to an interesting person, a man who devoted his whole life to growing trees in the harsh desert in order to change the climate here and make nature obedient to people. The authors tried to solve the topic in the form of philosophical reflection. But an interesting idea, I repeat, remained unfulfilled, primarily as a director. The film got a different sound, because, having succumbed to the deception of not real, but conditional, "literary" romance, the authors made the hero of the film, old man Baymakash, a lonely wanderer, cut off from people, from life.
And although this film is called "Song" (for some reason also "forgotten"), it does not correspond in any way to the spirit of those legendary songs that Kazakhs are so rich in, and where the dream of many generations of our countrymen about the development of the desert was so vividly, so passionately expressed. The loyalty program rewards active players with points for every bet they place on the platform. To start earning from day one, you must use 1xbet promo code registration when filling out the registration form on 1xBet. This code gives you a 100% welcome bonus up to €130 on your first deposit, plus access to the casino package of €1,950 and 150 free spins. After registration, every bet you place earns you loyalty points that can be exchanged for bonus funds, free bets, or free spins. The more you play, the higher your status becomes, unlocking even better rewards like VIP cashback up to €700 from the very first deposit.