THE FALL OF OTRAR (1991)
![]()
Randwick Ritz, Sydney:
7:50 PM
Tuesday 06 May
Lido Cinemas, Melbourne:
7:40 PM
Tuesday 13 May
Rating: Unclassified 18+
Duration: 156 minutes
Country: Kazakhstan
Language: Kazakh, Mandarin Chinese, and Mongolian with English subtitles
Cast: Dokhdurbek Kydyraliyev, Tungyshpai Zhamankulov, Bolot Beyshenaliev
Director: Ardak Amirkulov
SYDNEY TICKETS ⟶
MELBOURNE TICKETS ⟶
7:50 PM
Tuesday 06 May
Lido Cinemas, Melbourne:
7:40 PM
Tuesday 13 May
Rating: Unclassified 18+
Duration: 156 minutes
Country: Kazakhstan
Language: Kazakh, Mandarin Chinese, and Mongolian with English subtitles
Cast: Dokhdurbek Kydyraliyev, Tungyshpai Zhamankulov, Bolot Beyshenaliev
Director: Ardak Amirkulov
SYDNEY TICKETS ⟶
MELBOURNE TICKETS ⟶
4K RESTORATION – AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
“The film restoration of the year. The new 4K restoration of Ardak Amirkulov’s intricate historical epic, … will hopefully help this monumental film to reach as many people as possible.” – Film Comment, New York
“Ardak Amirkulov’s staggering historical epic (co-written by Aleksei German) concerns the intrigues and turmoil preceding Genghis Khan’s systematic destruction of the lost East Asian civilization of Otrar. The movie that spurred the extraordinary wave of great Kazakh films in the 1990s, The Fall of Otrar is hallucinatory, visually resplendent, and ferociously energetic, packed with eye-catching (and gouging) detail and traversing an endless variety of parched, epic landscapes and ornate palaces. But this is also one of the most astute historical films ever made, its high quotient of gore grounded in the bedrock realities of realpolitik: when the Kharkhan of Otrar is finally brought before the Ruler of the World, he could be facing Stalin or, for that matter, any number of latter-day CEOs. A movie that has everything, from state-of-the-art 13th-century warfare to perfumed sex, The Fall of Otrar is truly a one-of-a-kind experience”. – New York Film Festival notes to accompany the world premiere of the 4K restoration, Lincoln Centre, NY, October 2024
Introduced by Rob Hughes at Ritz Cinemas and Lido Cinemas
“The film restoration of the year. The new 4K restoration of Ardak Amirkulov’s intricate historical epic, … will hopefully help this monumental film to reach as many people as possible.” – Film Comment, New York
“Ardak Amirkulov’s staggering historical epic (co-written by Aleksei German) concerns the intrigues and turmoil preceding Genghis Khan’s systematic destruction of the lost East Asian civilization of Otrar. The movie that spurred the extraordinary wave of great Kazakh films in the 1990s, The Fall of Otrar is hallucinatory, visually resplendent, and ferociously energetic, packed with eye-catching (and gouging) detail and traversing an endless variety of parched, epic landscapes and ornate palaces. But this is also one of the most astute historical films ever made, its high quotient of gore grounded in the bedrock realities of realpolitik: when the Kharkhan of Otrar is finally brought before the Ruler of the World, he could be facing Stalin or, for that matter, any number of latter-day CEOs. A movie that has everything, from state-of-the-art 13th-century warfare to perfumed sex, The Fall of Otrar is truly a one-of-a-kind experience”. – New York Film Festival notes to accompany the world premiere of the 4K restoration, Lincoln Centre, NY, October 2024
Introduced by Rob Hughes at Ritz Cinemas and Lido Cinemas
THE RESTORATION
Source: DCP Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna
Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in collaboration with Ardak Amirkulov. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. The Fall of Otrar (1991) was restored in 4K from the original camera and sound negatives. Scanning was performed by ARDFILM in Almaty (Republic of Kazakhstan). Ardak Amirkulov supervised the scanning and approved the final grading. Special thanks to Daniel Bird. Restoration work was completed in 2024 by L’Immagine Ritrovata.
![]()
![]()
![]()
Director: Ardak Amirkulov; Production Company: Kazakhfilm Studios; Producers: Aleksei German, Svetlana Karmalita; Script: Aleksei German, Svetlana Karmalita; Photography:Aubakir Suleyev, Sapar Koichumanov; Editor: G Kystauova; Production design: Aleksandr Rorokin, Umirzak Shmanov; Costume Design: Lyudmila Trakhtenberg; Music editor: Aiken Kuatbayeva
Cast: Dokha Kydyraliyev (Undzhu), Tungyshbai Dzhamankulov (Kairykahan), Bolot Beyshenaliev (Shinvyskhan), Abdurashid Makhsudov (Mukhamedshakh)
Kazakhstan | 1991 | 156 Mins | 4K DCP | Colour, Sepia | Mongolian, Kazakh, Mandarin with English subtitles | UC 18+
Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in collaboration with Ardak Amirkulov. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. The Fall of Otrar (1991) was restored in 4K from the original camera and sound negatives. Scanning was performed by ARDFILM in Almaty (Republic of Kazakhstan). Ardak Amirkulov supervised the scanning and approved the final grading. Special thanks to Daniel Bird. Restoration work was completed in 2024 by L’Immagine Ritrovata.
Director: Ardak Amirkulov; Production Company: Kazakhfilm Studios; Producers: Aleksei German, Svetlana Karmalita; Script: Aleksei German, Svetlana Karmalita; Photography:Aubakir Suleyev, Sapar Koichumanov; Editor: G Kystauova; Production design: Aleksandr Rorokin, Umirzak Shmanov; Costume Design: Lyudmila Trakhtenberg; Music editor: Aiken Kuatbayeva
Cast: Dokha Kydyraliyev (Undzhu), Tungyshbai Dzhamankulov (Kairykahan), Bolot Beyshenaliev (Shinvyskhan), Abdurashid Makhsudov (Mukhamedshakh)
Kazakhstan | 1991 | 156 Mins | 4K DCP | Colour, Sepia | Mongolian, Kazakh, Mandarin with English subtitles | UC 18+