Many people consider the steppes of Kazakhstan as a largely desolate place – the large, flat plains that cover about half of the country being the home of shepherds, sheep and hot dry winds. But last year’s most awarded international film, Tulpan, has shown audiences worldwide that the most simple settings, and the most simple things in life, still hold the strongest bond.
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Speaker: Sergey Dvortsevoy, writer and director of last year’s winner at the Cannes, Tokyo, India and Asia Pacific film awards
ADAM CONNORS: Does Kazakhstan and the Kazakh people borrow much from having China and Russia next door?
SERGEY DVORTSEVOY: Yeah, you know, Kazakhstan is huge territory and part of Kazakhstan, north part, they live – they’re very close to Russia and they have a lot of Russian traditions and so on and so on. At the same time, south of Kazakhstan they’re close to Uzbekistan, to China, to all these. Some of them they look like Chinese people. And some of them, they look like European people, you know, completely different races and essentially they are together, they are together all the time. The same language, some different traditions but in a way it’s very interesting culture. Of course it’s nomad culture first of all, because they are nomads and they are shepherds still – not all of them because, of course, most of population live in the cities.
ADAM CONNORS: In Tulpan, you do really point out that the lead character, Asa, is kind of like a city kid who wants to live in the country.
SERGEY DVORTSEVOY: He’s such a character who understand that it’s not easy to live in city as well if you don’t have any particular occupation and you have to survive everywhere to find job, to rent flat and so on. That’s why his idea is to build, to settle in the steppe, to be shepherd and because his dream is to build, you know, to settle farm there. It’s a stupid idea in a way because in the steppe it’s quite difficult. That’s why he looks like a kid sometimes. At the same time it’s very general, very basic wish, and motivation to build something and to settle life, to be happy, to find wife, to have family. It’s very universal things and very understandable. You have to understand that Kazakh people, nomad, they are nomads, and steppe is like their heart.
ADAM CONNORS: Our Indigenous Australians have the same sort of close feeling to the land.
SERGEY DVORTSEVOY: I feel this, this feeling of huge, huge territory is important for, you know, for soul because it’s very, it’s strange, it’s strange place, it looks like very uninteresting and very empty but at the same time when you are there you understand it’s very important place to be because when you are there you catch, you fill with balance, inner balance, because you feel you have very strong connection to nature and you understand that you just a human being but not owner of nature and you are part of nature and nature’s so strong and you feel… immediately you feel balance, you understand? You are dependent on moon, you are dependent on sun.
ADAM CONNORS: Tulpan has won many, many awards across the world. How do you feel that Kazakh people, the steppe, how has that touched all of these film audiences? What do they see in your film?
SERGEY DVORTSEVOY: It’s interesting because, yes, we have indeed a lot of prizes and great warm reception everywhere. First of all people feel that this main character he doesn’t look for them like the guy from another planet. Despite this exotic life film and a lot of animals, all his life looks like exotic but he looks like ordinary guy. People everywhere – it’s very funny, everywhere. I travel a lot, I saw the reaction of Indian people, for example, in Goa, in America, in Canada, in many country, Japan, you know, many, many country, Europe. It’s interesting that I just see different faces but the same reaction. They understand motivations immediately.
