Tulpan

This first feature by the celebrated documentary film-maker, Sergey Dvortsevoy, won the Prize for Best Film in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes 2008, and has gone on to win accolades around the world. After completing his naval service, young Asa travels back to the Kazakh steppe where his sister and her shepherd husband live a nomadic life. To start his new life, Asa must get married first before he can become a shepherd himself. Asa’s only hope for marriage on the deserted steppe is Tulpan, the daughter of another shepherd family.  Asa is disappointed to learn that Tulpan doesn’t like him because she thinks that his ears are too big. But  Asa doesn’t give up and he continues to dream of a life that may not be possible on the steppe ...

TULPAN is Sergey Dvortsevoy’s first feature film. Sergey has directed several short and medium-length documentary films which have won numerous top prizes. France. However, Sergey prefers to describe his award-winning films IN THE DARK, HIGHWAY, BREAD DAY and PARADISE as “life cinema.” His goal has always been to show the simplicity and warmth of the world in a mixture of naturalism and poetry.

Born in 1962 in Chimkent, Kazakhstan, Sergey studied engineering. As an Aeroflot radio engineer, he travelled all over the country, until he saw an announcement for higher education in directing and screenwriting in Moscow.

Article by Pawel Pawlikowski in The Guardian - read the article

Conversation between Dvortsevoy and Scott Foundas during the New York Film Festival (2008) - see the full interview

Interview in Filmmaker magazine, April 2009 - read the full interview

Interview in DOX, Autumn 2008- read the full interview

Filmography

2008 TULPAN (100 min)

2004 IN THE DARK / V TEMNOTE (41 min)

1999 HIGHWAY (52 min)

1998 BREAD DAY / CHLEBNYY DEN (54 min)

1997 PARADISE / SCHASTYE (23 min)

CREW

DIRECTOR...Sergey Dvortsevoy

SCREENPLAY...Sergey Dvortsevoy, Gennady Ostrovskiy

PRODUCED BY Pandora Film (Germany), Karl Baumgartner

PRODUCERS...Cobra Film (Switzerland), Valerie Fischer

Eurasia Film (Kazakhstan), Gulnara Sarsenova, Bulat Galimgereyev Film Company Slovo (Russia), Sergey Melkumov, Elena Yatsoura

CTB Filmproduction (Russia), Sergey Selyanov

Filmcontract Ltd. (Poland), Henryk Romanowski Pallas Film (Germany), Thanassis Karathanos Pandora Film (Germany), Raimond Goebel

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY...Jola Dylewska PSC

PRODUCTION DESIGNER...Roger Martin

EDITOR...Isabel Meier, Petar Markovic

TECHNICAL DATA Format 35 mm / 1:1.85 / 100 min / Colour /

Dolby Digital / Kazakh and Russian with English  subtitles

CAST

ASA...Askhat Kuchinchirekov

SAMAL (Asa’s sister)...Samal Yeslyamova

ONDAS (Samal’s husband)...Ondasyn Besikbasov

BONI...Tulepbergen Baisakalov

BEKE...Bereke Turganbayev

NUKA...Nurzhigit Zhapabayev

MAHA...Mahabbat Turganbayeva

TULPAN’S FATHER...Amangeldi Nurzhanbayev

TULPAN’S MOTHER...Tazhyban Khalykulova

BOSS...Zhappas Zhailaubaev

VETERINARIAN...Esentai Tulendiev

Peter Bradshaw,  The Guardian

Read the full review

Nigel Andrews, FINANCIAL TIMES

Read the full review

★★★★

“Not only ravishing to look at but  exceedingly funny too...ONE OF THE MOST CHARMING FILMS OF THE YEAR.

ON NO ACCOUNT MISS THE CHANCE TO ENJOY IT.”

Derek Malcolm, THE EVENING STANDARD

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★★★★★   "IT’S A GORGEOUS, FUNNY STORY...AN ABSOLUTE TREAT...”

Sukhdev Sandhu, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

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★★★★

"Among the year’s most endearing cinematic experiences."

David Jenkins   Time Out

read the full review

Pawel  Pawlikowski, The Guardian

Read the full interview

“A breath of fresh air…life-affirming…finely-crafted comedy drama”

Nicholas Barber,  THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

★★★★

“Extraordinary vitality…a very funny, deadpan and tender comedy”

Laurence Phelan  THE INDEPENDENT INFORMATION

“Perceptive and humorous, this gentle drama is uplifting and resonant.”

“An estimable feature debut ...”

“...charmingly absurdist-realist tale of the Kazakh steppe. “

“a revealing portrait of nomadic life in the Central Asian wilderness, with the lengthy lamb-birthing sequence being especially enthralling... a lot of humour, notably involving the hero’s Boney M-loving buddy.”

Patrick Peters, Empire

Read the full review

“a sensitive and...funny human drama.”

“A Herculean task from the director and one that deserves to find an audience. “

Matt, Bochenski, Little White Lies

“...Sergei Dvortsevoy’s remarkable feature debut celebrates the unstinting determination of its characters with affection and humour, whisking into the mix spectacular landscapes, live animal births and Boney M’s ‘Rivers Of Babylon.”

Trevor Johnson, TOTAL FILM

“Charming romantic tale.”

The Guardian Guide - Pick of the Week

“EXTRAORDINARY SCENES ...which make the film’s humour and visual poetry work so well”

A TRIUMPH for its director”

Tony Rayns, Sight & Sound

“A MESMERISING tale”

Keiron Corless, Sight & Sound

‘EXTRAORDINARY’

Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“A poetic fable... a deliciously light touch characterises this dry, deadpan comedy set in the stark and sparsely inhabited steppes of Kazakhstan.’

Dvortsevoy, in his first foray into fiction, knows how to milk laughs and moments of substantial emotional import from tough characterisation, a nice line in absurdism, and unexpected incongruities.’

Geoff Andrew, Time Out

‘Shy courtship, stark landscapes and a spirited supporting cast of livestock make Tulpan a vivid, intensely enjoyable debut feature from former documentarian Sergei Dvortsevoy.’

‘... rapturously received at its screening in Cannes...’

....'vivid, intensely enjoyable' and 'immensely charming...'

Jonathan Romney, Screen - read the full review

'Something of a miracle'

‘...the first fictional feature by the Kazakh director Sergey Dvortsevoy, might be described as an epic landscape film, a sweetly comic coming-of-age story or a lyrical work of social realism...the setting — a windswept, sparely populated steppe in southern Kazakhstan — gives the movie a mood that sometimes feels closer to that of science fiction.

A.O. Scott  The New York Times - read the full review

Alissa Simon,Variety - read the full review

'ASTONISHING'

‘...Dvortsevoy could be the most artistically driven documentary filmmaker since Werner Herzog — living with his subjects for months (and sometimes years) and doing as much of the film work he could himself. He compares his preparation to painting a fresco and insists on shooting film rather than video. This rigorous method ensures a movie the spectator is constantly wondering how the filmmaker contrived to make.

“The most difficult thing for the actors was to be as strong as the animals,” Dvortsevoy told an interviewer, “because all the animals in the film are fantastic, and the actors should not be worse.”

‘In every respect, this unclassifiable movie is an amazing accomplishment.'

Jim Hoberman, LA Weekly - read the full review

‘A startlingly accomplished debut dramatic feature, Tulpan is about as true as it gets. Its beauty and simplicity is literally BREATHTAKING - numerous times the audience gasped. I left the movie excited by discovering a new cinematic voice. SUBLIME.’

Timothy Sun, New York Film Festival

Video interview with Scott Foundas at the New York Film Festival in October 2008, where Sergey Dvortsevoy responded to what life was like over the four year process - see the full interview

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