The Released: a film by Kana Beisekeyev and Raikhan Rakhim
I am so excited to finally share this with you. Ok, so there is one cool Kazakhstani filmmaker that I am really proud of presenting you.
We have already enjoyed a number of shorts by Kanat Beisekeyev like "Kazakhstanis in the US" project, as well as other independent projects of his own. This time though, Kanat shot a new documentary and it is totally different from what we saw before.
Synopsis:
"Valentina Aleksandrova spent 9 years for dealing drugs in a high-security prison in Shymkent. She was released and is headed home, to Uralsk, where she is to meet her children. She had been particularly hoping to see her 12-year old daughter, Masha, as the orphanage administration had previously denied her visitation rights. This film depicts Valentina’s journey from Shymkent to Uralsk.
It’s a story of a woman who reunites with her family and starts a new life…"
I am proud of having contributed a bit to this short. For just an exclusive preview, I helped out with the translation of the subs. And I am really excited for my English-speaking friends as they will be able to understand (hopefully) and appreciate the story this film narrates.
You might say, translating subtitles for a 25-min long film? Sounds like a no big deal, right? Yeah, but no. I had to go through the captioning and subtitling guides of British channels (yeah, I am that meticulous). Finally, all these years of watching movies with subs paid off. Well, and I learned like A LOT from this experience. While translating the subs I had to google so much prison lingo and drug slang, I thought the Metropolitan Police was going to drop by and start asking questions (my doorbell rang while I was typing these words).
Without any further ado, enjoy the film! and then tell me how much you enjoyed the camerawork, the original score and the story of a woman who after all these years in prison considers herself a social outcast.
Spoiler alert: I am probably being too dramatic, but there will be tears. You don't have to cry while watching it, but if the tears start rolling, just let them be.