Cinefondation-Atelier selects Kazakh film project

Aliyushka feature project by Kazakh film director Adilkhan Yerzhanov has entered the list of 15 projects selected by Cinefondation of Cannes Film Festival, Adilkhan Yerzhanov told Tengrinews. Kazakhstan project was selected by the Atelier division. Since 2005 it is a new step in action to promote the creation of new works. Each year, L'Atelier selects about fifteen feature length projects from around the world, and invites their directors to the Festival de Cannes to put them in contact with film professionals. The filmmakers are selected by the quality of their project and that of their previous films. The program enables them to gain access to international financing and speed up the production process. The winner project receives an opportunity to launch the film into production. Aliyushka project became one of the winners of the Kazakhstan Cinema Market during the Eurasia Film Festival. Adilkhan Yerzhanov and Serik Abishev were awarded with an opportunity to kick-start production of their projects, but the shooting has not started so far. However, Adilkhan Yerzhanov has already started the preparation works. The action of the film Aliyushka takes place in the 1990s, during the collapse of the Soviet Union. A group of street children make an abandoned factory located in a remote area their home and are trying to survive the crisis. 14-y.o. Aliyushka is the only one who can read among them and she is the only one who stands up against drugs and holds on to her principals. Most local underage street children dislike her, but the girl assembles the children who want to make the life better and give a fight to drugs and crime. Young actress Aliya Zainalova has already been approved for the leading role in the movie. Cinefondation is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival, created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers from Latin America, East Europe, Africa and Asia. It is divided into three different parts: The Selection, The Residence and The Atelier. Created in 1998 by Gilles Jacob and devoted to the search for new talent, the Cinéfondation selects fifteen to twenty short and medium-length films each year from film schools all over the world. The Cinéfondation selection forms part of the Official Selection and the selected films are presented to the Cinéfondation and Shorts Jury which awards a prize to the best three at an official ceremony. Each year more than 1600 student films are sent to the Cinéfondation, a testimony of the diversity and dynamism of the young international cinematographic creation. Since 1998 more than 250 films from 90 schools in the world have been selected. By Aizhan Tugelbayeva