Featuring some of Kazakhstan’s most established actors, the film’s “poetic, slightly fable-like form is driven by a warm sense of nostalgia,” says Nurdinova Kazakhstani film “Mugalim” (“Múğalim”) had its world premiere at the San Sebastián Film Festival as part of the New Directors section on Sept. 20. Co-written and directed by Ayana Nurdinova, the film tells the story of a music teacher from the small town of Balkhash who dreams of moving to the big city to perform in the philharmonic. Tired of playing at small parties and weddings, he finally gets the the opportunity to do so when his best friend’s uncle offers him the chance to move to the city with him.
He has to make the difficult choice of leaving his family and students behind in order to pursue his dream of making it big as an artist. As for the industry as a whole, I believe Kazakh cinema is on the rise, and I hope that over the next 10–20 years we will see it reach its full potential, producer Aruzhan Dossymkosha told Variety. Produced by Art East Films, the film stars Oljas Dalelkhan, Rustem Zhanyamanov, Shynar Zhanisbekova, Olga Landina, Akif Petrov and Madina Yesman.
Variety had the chance to interview director Ayana Nurdinova ahead of its world premiere in San Sebastián. Would you say your film is a semi-autobiographical story? Ayana Nurdinova: I can partly agree that “Mugalim” is a semi-autobiographical story.
The main source of inspiration was my own school in the small city of Taldykorgan in southeastern Kazakhstan. My mother has been an English teacher at a school for more than 30 years, so the world of teachers has always been very close to me. Beyond the teachers’ storyline, the relationship between Kirill and his mother was also inspired by people I knew during my childhood.
Some of the teacher characters were also based, in part, on teachers from my own school years. So while the story itself is fictional, it is rooted in many real people, memories, and experiences from my childhood. Why did you decide to focus on the life of a music teacher in particular?
Nurdinova: I wanted to portray a character who sees himself as being greater than he actually is, someone who believes he is destined for great things. In that sense, making him a music teacher with grand ambitions felt very natural. Music, and classical music in particular, also carries a great deal of meaning within the film.
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