Poet (film)

Poet (Kazakh: Ақын, Akyn) is a 2021 Kazakhstani drama film written and directed by Darezhan Omirbaev. Based on The Author’s Evening by Hermann Hesse, the film depicts story of Didar, a poet chained to his day job in a small newspaper. While reading about a 19th century famous Kazakh poet, Makhambet Otemisuly, who was executed by the authorities, he feels deeply shaken, realizing how difficult and fragile is the life of a poet. It had its world premiere at the 34th Tokyo International Film Festival on 31 October 2021, where it won best director award.[2]

Poet
Official poster
Directed byDarezhan Omirbaev
Written byDarezhan Omirbayev
Based onThe Author’s Evening
by Hermann Hesse
Produced by
  • Yuliya Kim
  • Yerzhan Akhmet
Starring
  • Yerdos Kanayev
  • Gulmira Khasanova
  • Klara Kabylgazina
CinematographyBoris Troshev
Edited byGulyaim Kozhamberdiyeva
Production
company
Kazakhfilm Studios
Distributed by
  • Paulo Branco
  • Alfama Films
Release dates
  • 31 October 2021 (2021-10-31) (TIFF)
  • 14 December 2022 (2022-12-14) (France)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryKazakhstan
LanguageKazakh
Box officeest. US$2,378[1]

In February 2022 it was screened at 72nd Berlin International Film Festival.[3] It was released theatrically in France on 14 December 2022.[4][5]

Cast
  • Yerdos Kanayev as Didar
  • Gulmira Khasanova as Zere
  • Klara Kabylgazina as Poet's mother
  • Serik Salkinbayev
  • Bolat Shanin
  • Aida Abdurakhman

Production

Darezhan Omirbayev conceived the idea for the screenplay, when he was reading a short story The Author’s Evening by Herman Hesse, whose lead character was an artist.[4]

Release

The film had its world premiere at thr 34th Tokyo International Film Festival on 31 October 2021,[6] where it won the best director award.[7] It was invited at 72nd Berlin International Film Festival in 'Forum section'.[8][9] On 18 August 2022, the film was screened at 46th Hong Kong International Film Festival in Global Vision section of World Cinema.[10] On 21 October 2022, it was screened at the 2022 Vienna International Film Festival in Features section.[11] In November 2022, it was invited at the Lisbon & Sintra Film Festival 2022, where it won the Best Film award.[12]

Reception

Critical response

In France, the AlloCiné rated the film 3.9/5, based on 12 reviews, which is an 'Average grade'.[4]

Panos Kotzathanasis writing in Asian Movie Pulse praised Yerdos Kanaev, writing, "he, as Didar gives a very fitting performance". He opined that the "editing implements a slow pace" though "it toned down by the different cinematic elements". Concluding, Kotzathanasis felt the film is "excellent". He wrote, "Poet highlights that Darezhan Omirbayev is at the top of his art, particularly because he manages to present all his comments through an approach that is intelligent, funny, and rather artful at the same time."[13] Joshua Morel at Critikat.com rated the film 3/5 and wrote, "Like its character, the film proves to be stubborn and never deviates from its line". Morel opined that "more than a fight, poetry appears in it as an enterprise of resistance which consists in detecting, within the very interior of the capitalist machine, the beauty nestled in the most trivial elements."[14] Vincent Ostria of L'Humanité rated it with 5 stars and opined that Darezhan Omirbayev belongs to tongue-in-cheek movement, "which looks at the world in a dubious mode, while emphasising the beauty of a gesture and the irreducible strangeness of reality." Ostria concluded, "A rare, hushed and bewitching cinema."[15]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work/Recipient Result Ref
2021 34th Tokyo International Film Festival Best Director Darezhan Omirbaev Won [16]
2022 Lisbon & Sintra Film Festival 2022 Best Film Poet Won [17]
15th Asia Pacific Screen Awards Best Film Nominated [18]
Best Cinematography Boris Troshev Nominated
Best Screenplay Darezhan Omirbaev Nominated
2023 Asian Film Awards Best Film Poet Nominated [19]
Best Director Darezhan Omirbaev Nominated

References
  1. "Akyn, Poet (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  2. "Kazakh Film "Poet" to Premiere at International Film Festival in Tokyo". The Astana Times. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  3. "The Pull of Precisely Observed Matter. The Films of the 72nd Berlinale Forum". Berlinale. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  4. "Critiques presse pour le film Poet" [Press reviews for the film Poet]. AlloCiné (in French). 8 December 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  5. "Poet (Akyn): a film by Darezhan Omirbayev". Alfama Films Production. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  6. "The 34th Tokyo International Film Festival:Poet (Akyn) World Premiere". The 34th Tokyo International Film Festival. 6 November 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  7. Bulatkulova, Saniya (9 November 2021). "Kazakhstan's Darezhan Omirbayev Wins Best Director Award at 34th Tokyo International Film Festival". The Astana Times. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  8. "Akyn Poet: Forum 2022". Berlinale. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  9. Bulatkulova, Saniya (24 December 2021). "Kazakh Film "Poet" Enters 72nd Berlin International Film Festival Program". The Astana Times. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  10. "Akyn Poet". Hong Kong International Film Festival. 18 August 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  11. "Akyn Poet". Vienna International Film Festival. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  12. Khassenkhanova, Galiya (22 November 2022). "Kazakh Film "Poet" Wins Best Picture at Portuguese Film Festival". The Astana Times. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  13. Kotzathanasis, Panos (10 December 2021). "Film Review: Poet (2021) by Darezhan Omirbayev Festival". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  14. Morel, Joshua (13 December 2021). "LA RÈGLE ET L'EXCEPTION" [The Rule and the Exception]. Critikat.com (in French). Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  15. Ostria, Vincent (14 December 2021). "Le pot de terre poétique contre le pot de fer commercial" [The poetic clay pot versus the commercial iron pot]. L'Humanité (in French). Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  16. "The 34th Tokyo International Film Festival: Award Winners". The 34th Tokyo International Film Festival. 6 November 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  17. "Kazakh Film 'Poet' Wins Best Film Award at Lisbon & Sintra Film Festival 2022". The Qazaqstan Monitor. 21 November 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  18. Keast, Jackie (13 October 2022). "'Sweet As', 'Delikado' nominated for Asia Pacific Screen Awards". IF Magazine. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  19. Ntim, Zac (6 January 2023). "Asian Film Awards: Decision to Leave And Drive My Car Lead Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
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