Gulshad OMAROVA Гульшад ОМАРОВА Goulchad OMAROVA   Russia / Germany / France / Kazakhstan, 2008, 85 mn  Colour, fiction

Native Dancer ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Баксы    Baksy  Baksy

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Plot synopsis

The Old Woman Aidai lives on the land of a rich businessman, Ryspek. Once, she had healed his wife, and in gratitude he allowed her to build a house on his land. Aidai, like all Kazakh baksy, can heal people, find a person’s lost soul, and tell them where their stolen cattle has been hidden. For this reason, Ryspek takes his brother-in-law to her, Tokha – a man addicted to gambling, a drunkard who has already been in prison many times. (Source : http://cinema.bg/sff/2006/sfm/bg/project.php?projectSid=69) Aidai’s methods are simple. Ignoring Tokha’s protests, she puts him in a pit for several days. Ryspek’s five-year old son Asan is left to keep an eye on him. Aidai has a conflict with the local authorities. Investors want to build a petrol station and motel where her house stands. But the old woman won’t let them demolish her house. She says that only in this place can she heal people. And that they must not build here, and that it would even be dangerous. The authorities negotiate with Ryspek, but to no end – he is on the side of the old woman. The investors bribe Tokha, and he agrees to write a statement to the police, claiming that Aidai is insane and that one of the people she was trying to heal even died in her care. The police arrest the old woman. At the interrogation, the old woman suddenly starts to spin round the room, and then falls to the floor, lifeless. Aidai’s body is taken to the morgue. That evening, before the watchman’s eyes, the old woman gets up from the table, and disappears through the morgue’s door. A year passes. Where the old woman’s house once stood, the construction of the petrol station and the motel has been completed. At night, following the ceremonial opening of the new constructions, a fire breaks out. The investors are convinced that it’s arson. They suspect Ryspek, and decide that he should cover their losses. Ryspek refuses. The next day, his son is kidnapped from school. Now Ryspek is prepared to give them everything he has. And he does. They agree that he will leave the money in a certain place, and then wait for his son to be returned to him. But he’s tricked. Ryspek knows that there’s only one person that can help him – Aidai. He believes that she can tell him where his son is being kept. Ryspek orders that Tokha and a guard go and look for Aidai in the south of the country, where she was born. But she isn’t there. They find out that the old woman is living with a group of traveling gypsies. They find her at a market. Aidai has gone blind, but she recognizes Tokha from a distance and refuses to return with him. By mobile phone, Ryspek asks the old woman for help. She “sees” where Ryspek’s son is, and tells him where the boy is being hidden. Following a shootout, Ryspek and his men manage to get the boy back. For the whole time, the boy has been held in a suitcase. Now he can’t walk or talk. The gypsies bring Aidai home. Aidai forces the boy to be her guide. She knows that his soul can still be returned.
Source : http://cinema.bg/sff/2006/sfm/bg/project.php?projectSid=69

 

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Commentaries and bibliography

Guka Omarova : Baksy (aka Native Dancer, 2008), Robert BIRD, kinokultura.com, 2009

 

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Selected in the following festivals :

- International Film Festival Innsbruck, Innsbrück (Austria), 2009

- Sarajevo Film Festival, Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 2009

- Sofia International Film Festival, Sofia (Bulgaria), 2009

- Hong-Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong (China), 2009

- Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), 2009

- Copenhagen International Film Festival / CPH PIX, Copenhagen (Denmark), 2009

- Munich International Film Festival, Munich (Germany), 2009

- Rotterdam International Film Festival, Rotterdam (Netherlands), 2009

- Warsaw Film Festival, Warsaw (Poland), 2009

- Damascus International Film Festival, Damascus (Syria), 2009

- Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto (Canada), 2008

- Festival internazionale del Film di Roma, Rome (Italy), 2008

- International Film Festival “The East and the West Classics and Avant-Guard”, Orenburg (Russia), 2008

- Festival Russian kino 'Moscow Premier Screenings', Moscow (Russia), 2008

- Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2008

- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2008

- Stockholm International Film Festival, Stockholm (Sweden), 2008

- Dubai International Film Festival, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), 2008

- Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago (USA), 2008

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Photos and videos

 

 

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