Restored

The Fall of Otrar

+ intro by writer Daniel Bird

Gibel Otrara

This monumental historical epic set in the 13th century, four-years-in-the-making yet slipped into semi-obscurity, was recently restored in 4K and is finally available in all its grandiosity.

  • Director

    Ardak Amirkulov

  • With

    Dokhdurbek Kydyraliyev, Tungyshpai Zhamankulov, Bolot Beyshenaliyev, Abdurashid Makhsudov

  • Kazakhstan 1991. 156min

  • Digital 4K (restoration)

  • Kazakh, Mongolian and Mandarin with English subtitles

A daring soldier tries to warn the ruler of the Central Asian city of Otrar about Genghis Khan’s impending invasion. Alternating colour and sepia film stock, this hypnotic debut is visually staggering, grandiose in scale and at times enigmatic. Reminiscent of Andrei Rublev for its virtuosity and Akira Kurosawa’s historical films for its pace, this rarely-seen epic was produced and co-written by Aleksei German with his wife and regular collaborator Svetlana Karmalita.

Contains scenes of torture, graphic violence and animal cruelty.

Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in collaboration with Ardak Amirkulov. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. Special thanks to Daniel Bird.

See the recently restored Gamera trilogy.

World Cinema Project

Cineteca Bologna

Cineteca Bologna