Chouga

With a degree in Mathematics, Omirbaev first approached cinema theoretically, graduating from VGIK with a thesis on film semiotics and writing criticism for the magazine Novoe Kino. Omirbaev’s theoretical concerns translate seemlessly to the making of films, and like other critics turned directors, finds human expression for his ideas. Like Bresson, he pays close attention to details, to points of subtle contact between people, and particularly in Kardiogramma – to the merging of dream and reality. And like Godard, his films are self-referential (Jol), and literary (Kairat). His first feature film, Kairat, won the Silver Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. —Seagull Films