Shal and Zhauzhurek Myn Bala screened in Canada

The first festival of Kazakhstan movies KAZCAN Film Festival was held in Vancouver, Tengrinews.kz reports. During the festival the visitors were offered to watch A Country That Has Chosen Life by Berik Barysbekov, Zhauzhurek Myn Bala and Strayed by Akan Satayev, Letter to an Angel by Yermek Shynarbayev and Shal by Yermek Tursunov. “The KAZCAN Film Festival, in association with the Kazakhstan Society in Canada, is a non-for-profit cine effort whose purpose is to enlighten Canadian audience about Kazakhstan by showcasing the remarkable talent of Kazakhstani filmmakers,” the organizers wrote. A charity photo exhibition ATOM devoted to Kazakhstan President's program of nuclear disarmament was held during the Festival. The exhibition showed the history of Semipalatinsk Test Site of the USSR in Kazakhstan and the dramatic consequences of the nuclear weapons testing. President of Kazakhstan community in Canada Vyacheslav Nam expressed hope that “this event will promote enhancement of cultural relations between Kazakhstan and Canada and will become a regular and milestone event at the North American continent”. The event was attended by Ken Ashdown, professor of Vancouver Film School. He said that he was impressed with Kazakhstan movies. “I am very happy for the success of Kazakhstan-Canadian film festival. From the cultural and economic point of view, I think that this even will open new opportunities for cultural exchange between our countries. Canada already has several agreements on join production of movies. And of course, I think that following this policy we will keep signing similar agreements with different countries, such as Kazakhstan,” Ashdown said.