Filmmakers spar over competing visions of Kazakhstan's traumatic past

Despite their differences, the creators of Oyan, Qazaq! and Kash share a determination to address Kazakhstan’s historical traumas through their distinct narratives.

The film Oyan, Qazaq! (Kazakhs, Rise From Your Slumber!) was intended as a conversation-starter.

Sure enough, more than one year since its release, the film continues to spark lively disagreements.

Based on the life of Mirzhakyp Dulatov, a poet, writer, and leading figure in the early 20th-century proto-nationalist Alash movement, the film dwells on the g…