The Film
A darkly absurd, self-reflexive feminist parable.
Photographer Merey accepts an invitation to a birthday party in the mountains, where an ordinary gathering gradually becomes a darkly absurd theatre of hierarchy, male solidarity and collective complicity. As her private world of imagination begins to invade reality, she confronts a group of men governed by the logic of the strongest.
- Genre
- Drama / Dark Comedy
- Countries
- France / Kazakhstan
- Year
- 2024
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Languages
- Russian · Kazakh
- Format
- DCP 2K · Color
Director’s Position
“Humour does not make these men harmless. It deprives violence of the grandeur it so often claims for itself. They remain ridiculous and lethal at the same time.”
Olga Korotko · Director’s Statement
The full Director’s Statement is included in the press kit.
Watch an Excerpt
An excerpt from Crickets, It’s Your Turn · 1 min 12 sec · English subtitles
Director
Olga Korotko
Olga Korotko is a Kazakhstani filmmaker, screenwriter and producer, born in Uralsk, Kazakhstan (1988). She began her career directing short films under the tutelage of Kazakh master Darezhan Omirbayev, earning a Master’s degree in Film Directing from the T. K. Zhurgenov Kazakh National Academy of Arts. She was selected for the Asian Film Academy at Busan (2011), studied at the New York Film Academy (2014–2015), and participated in Berlinale Talents (2016) and the Berlinale Script Station (2020).
Her debut feature Bad Bad Winter (2018) premiered in the ACID section at Cannes, winning the Audience Award at the Queens World Film Festival (2019) and the Audience Award at the Beirut International Women Film Festival (2019). Crickets, It’s Your Turn (2024), her second feature, was developed through La Fabrique Cinéma (Cannes 2020), the Asian Cinema Fund and the Berlinale Script Station. It premiered in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente competition at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.
Korotko is currently based in Dubai, UAE, where she is developing her third feature.
Festivals
Locarno Film Festival
Concorso Cineasti del Presente
World Premiere · Official Competition
2024
- Helsinki International Film FestivalFinland · 2024
- El Gouna Film FestivalFeature Narrative Competition · Egypt · 2024
- São Paulo International Film FestivalBrazil · 2024
- IFFI Goa · Chennai IFF · CinévestureIndia · 2024–2025
- Glasgow Film FestivalUK Premiere · Audience Award Shortlist · 2025
- Eastern Neighbours Film FestivalNetherlands · 2025
Selected Reviews
“Inzhu Abeu’s enigmatic face […] together with DoP Aigul Nurbulatova’s soft imagery sculpted by subdued light, leads one to stare at the screen in awe.”
“Rather than self-police, a fraternity poisons itself from the top-down, encouraging the worst impulses of its loudest members.”
“Korotko uses her camera with an intensity that makes the walls of the remote cabin appear to close in around Merey […]”
Credits
- Written & Directed by
- Olga Korotko
- Producers
- Étienne de Ricaud · Olga Korotko
- Production Companies
- Seven Rivers Cinema Production · Caractères Productions
- Principal Cast
- Inzhu Abeu · Ayan Batyrbek · Arnur Kusaingazin · Nurlybek Maulezaripov · Boris Yugay · Alexandr Khvan
- Director of Photography
- Aigul Nurbulatova
- Editing
- Ricardo Saraiva · Yedilkhan Amandyk
- Original Music
- Akmaral Mergen
- Sound Design
- Ilya Gariyev
- Cast — Merey
- Inzhu Abeu
- Cast — Nurlan
- Ayan Batyrbek
- Cast — Bakyt
- Arnur Kusaingazin
- Cast — Maksat
- Nurlybek Maulezaripov
- Cast — Alex
- Boris Yugay
- Cast — Sergey
- Alexandr Khvan
- Line Producer
- Dana Dastem
- Creative Producer
- Yerlan Aigozhinov
- Sound
- Benjamin Laurent · Erkhat Sembek
- Art Director
- Dana Jumagaliyeva · Eldar Nevlyutov · Zhuldyz Dulatova
- Costume Design
- Dmitriy Zorin
- Hair & Makeup
- Julia Sycheva · Greta Orlova
- Post Production
- Aidos Zhumurov
Press & Industry
Download the official press kit, including film information, director’s statement, selected stills and poster.
For screening access or additional information, please contact:
Olga Korotko
Seven Rivers Cinema
olga.korotko@outlook.com
ZIP · English · 4 MB
Rights
International rights available directly from the producers.
International Sales & Licensing
Olga Korotko · Seven Rivers Cinema
olga.korotko@outlook.com
Co-Producer · France
Étienne de Ricaud · Caractères Productions
etienne@caracteresproductions.com