International Competition

Aralkum

Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi
Screening time  
31.03. / Friday, 19:00 - 21:00 Theatre 2  
01.04. / Saturday, 17:00 - 19:00 Theatre 4  

Aralkum, the Aral Desert, is the bare seabed, the last thing left of the Aral Sea. It powerfully reveals the deadly impact of human activities - in this case, the intensive cultivation of cotton - on an ecosystem. The directors film the shore’s last inhabitants, who have lost their way of life to the desertification of their environment. The images of those bodies, of those spaces in which the vegetation struggles to resist the desert that was once water, then become images of a post-apocalyptic scenario in which the real place becomes a sort of melancholic border space, suspended between life and death. By weaving together different cinematic textures, Aralkum re-imagines the dried-up Aral Sea, allowing an old fisherman to set sail one last time.

Mila_zhluktenko

Mila Zhluktenko

Mila Zhluktenko (1991, Kyiv, Ukraine) studied at the Documentary Department, University of Television and Film, Munich. Her films have been screened at numerous film festivals including IDFA, Visions du Réel, Camerimage and MoMA, winning multiple awards.

Daniel_asadi_faezi

Daniel Asadi Faezi

Daniel Asadi Faezi (1993, Germany) studied in the Documentary Department at University of Television and Film, Munich and National College of Arts Lahore, Pakistan. Besides directing, he produces documentary and experimental cinema. His films screened at numerous film festivals including Locarno, DOK Leipzig, Visions du Réel and Ann Arbor. He is a Berlinale Talents alumnus.

General sponsor

Aralkum

Germany, Uzbekistan
2022, 14'

Directed by:
Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi

Screenplay by:
Daniel Asadi Faezi, Mila Zhluktenko

Cinematography:
Sadriddin Shakhabiddinov

Edited by:
Daniel Asadi Faezi, Mila Zhluktenko

Music:
Giovanni Berg

Producer:
Fozil Yunusov

Festivals & Awards:

Visions du Réel: Best Short Film (2022), ISFFC: Best Documentary Film (2022), DRAMA ISFF: Jury Special Award, Beldocs: Jury Special Mention (2022), Doclisboa (2022)