CINEMA AS BRANDING - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 175

able raw materials - a position by itself comfortable and self-praised but
maligned and demeaning within the international division of labor and
power relations. The film was to promote Kazakhstan's image as a creative
economy, conducive of innovation and new ideas. In sum, the function of
the future film was to liberate the country from anonymity, moving it up
within the global hierarchies at the same time.
A heroic motion picture, Nomad the Warrior was released at home
in 2005. 1 Styled as a 'sword 'n' sandal' epic (e.g., Gladiator , Troy ), it is
Kazakhstan's second most grandiose cultural endeavor (US$40 million)
after the relocation of the capital from Almaty to Astana in the late-1990 s.
Its story revolves around the events that took place in the 18th century in
present-day south-eastern Kazakhstan. Shot in original location, the film
features breath-taking landscapes, scaled battle scenes cast by real people,
impressive stunt sequences with warriors on horseback, and splendorous
'period' costumes and decorations. Depicting action in a location hitherto
unseen on global screen, its narrative addresses universal matters of cour-
age, loyalty, and humanity, a recipe for popular appeal.
Nomad is a coproduction of Kazakhfilm, a national studio, and Wild
Bunch, a French company, which casted actors from popular American
TV shows for major roles in the film. Cinematography has been one of
the most successful arts in Kazakhstan; foreign participation was solicited
to harmonize local skills and cultural tastes with those of Hollywood. 2 A
scriptwriter, Rustam Ibragimbekov, known for internationally acclaimed
pictures Burnt by the Sun and The Barber of Siberia , was hand-picked, fit-
ting in with codirectors, Ivan Passer, Sergey Bodrov, and Talgat Temenov
on the Kazakh side, as well as Milos Forman and Sergey Azimov, as ex-
ecutive producers. Even before it was made, Nomad was presented to the
1 In the version distributed in Kazakhstan, the film has been titled as Köshpendiler ( Nomads ) .
2 Kazakh cinematography traces its history to the WWII when Mosfilm, a major Russian studio was
evacuated to Alma-Ata. The presence of Mosfilm film crew shaped local talents and aspirations, so
that after the Russian studio returned home after the war was over, Kazakhstan's filmmaking picked
up. Kazakhfilm studio is now named after Shaken Aimanov (1914-1970), one of the most renowned
Kazakh directors who defined a Kazakh cinematic tradition with his films about the lives of indi-
vidual Kazakh women and men, their encounters with Russians, and their responses to the Soviet
rule ( Poema o luybvi 1954; Doch stepei 1955; Myzdes' zhivem 1956; Nash milyi doktor 1957; Konets
atamana 1970; Zemlya otsov 1966). Later major films made during the Soviet period include: Abdulla
Karsakpaev Menya Zovut Kozha 1963, Pogonya v stepi 1979; Soleonaya reka detstva , 1983; Sultan
Khodzhikov Kyz Zhibek 1970, Mazhit Begalin Ego vremya pridyet 1957 (about Chokan Valikhanov),
Pesnya o Manshuk 1969; Kuat Abuseitov Doroga zhizni 1959.