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THE CRYING STEPPE

GOLDEN EAGLE

By Marina KUNAROVA

GLAAM MEDIA INVEST - as PROD / CONS

Historical - Completed 2020

70% of indigenous population of Kazakhstan died during the Great Famine, artificially imposed on people in the 1920s by the Bolsheviks. Overcoming blind fear of death and despair, an eagle hunter Turar tries to save his family. He faces a moral dilemma: to stay human or survive at any cost ...

- Year of production
- 2020
- Genres
- Historical
- Countries
- KAZAKHSTAN, FRANCE
- Languages
- KAZAKH, RUSSIAN, ENGLISH
- Budget
- 0.6 - 1 M$
- Duration
- 117 mn
- Director(s)
- Marina KUNAROVA
- Producer(s)
- Yernare MALIKOV (MG PRODUCTION)
- Synopsis
- The story is based on real historical events that the in- digenous people of Kazakhstan had to live through in the 1920s-1930s, when the Famine Genocide claimed the lives of about 70% of the country’s population. Overall, around 50 million people suffered from starvation all over the Soviet Union. During those 10 years of famine, the Soviet state lost tens of millions of its citizens.
  Percentage-wise, the harm inflicted on the Kazakh peo- ple during the Goloschekin’s Genocide can be compared to the destruction of European Jews by the Nazis, and even surpasses the damage done by the Khmer Rouge in Kampuchea.
  In the 1920s, despite the diffifficult circumstances dur- ing those years of famine, the European countries
  and the USA tried to get the humanitarian help
  to the starving people on the territory of the
  Soviet Union. More than 15 million lives were saved from starvation death. This film is the first one to be fully dedicated to the Famine Genocide in Kazakhstan.
  The film tells a story of a Kazakh aul, somewhere in the mountains, whose inhabitants slowly starve to death. Turar, the lead character, practices the ancient skill of his forefathers — eagle hunting. After his possessions were confiscated, the eagle is all he has left. Turar tries to provide for his family by hunting in the steppe and in the mountains. For him, the eagle is a special bird and a true friend.
  Many relatives of Turar have died, and now he has only his wife Nuria and children Kairosh, Aikun and Didar, left.
  The Bolsheviks try to establish the Soviet rule in Kazakhstan at all cost. They want to suppress every single riot and revolt. They confiscate cattle, grain and food supplies from the Kazakhs, because Stalin at that time built his politics on the fact that hungry people are easier to break, rule and manipulate. The region, where Turar lives with his family, gets a new superintendent — Fedorov. Fedorov fac- es a difficult task of suppressing the inhabitants of the aul.
  Turar is a seasoned hunter, all he wants is to save his family from the horrors of hunger. He sees what’s happening in the aul, but fear for his family makes him indifferent to others. He never interferes, never protests or tries to change anything.
  One day, while hunting in the mountains, Turar finds his friend Maden — persecuted by the Bolsheviks and now dying of cold. Turar saves Maden and hides him in his house. Turar and Maden don’t exactly see eye to eye. Maden and his friends try to retaliate against the Soviet rule. Maden kills the commissioner, who comes to confiscate the provision. Turar is against violence, he doesn’t think anything can be done to change the situation, besides it’s not good to go against the ruling power. Turar doesn’t take part in killing the commissioner, and Maden is indignant about that.
  Turar saves Maden and his accomplice Magzhan from death.
  Meanwhile, the Bolsheviks return to the aul one more time, to confiscate the last that people have ... Will Turar survive ?