Bauyr (Little Brother)
Description
Eight-year-old Yerkin is an immensely resourceful if irascible third grader. He lives in Bulak, a small village on the steppes of Kazakhstan, where his keen observations of grown-ups are sometimes humorous and always honest. Yerkin makes bricks for a living when not in school, where he gets in trouble for shooting spitballs and learns how to recite Lermontov in Russian. At an age when he can pass under the radar of adults undetected or ignored, this determined lad provides a uniquely unfiltered view of his village and its quirky inhabitants. He valiantly lives alone next door to his aunt—because his mother passed away and his father is away on a business trip—and eagerly awaits the return of his brawny adult brother, Aidos, who lives in the city. Director Seric Aprymov skillfully weaves a complex, archetypal and slyly humorous story of good and bad brothers into the simple rhythms of Yerkin’s daily life. Almat Galym’s performance as Yerkin is enchanting and poignant; his struggles to be a good person and his longing for his mother pass over the features of his expressive, young face like a breeze or a cloud floating in the wide-open Kazakh sky. –Nancy K. Fishman
Seric Aprymov was born in 1960 in Kazakhstan in Aul-Aksuat village. He graduated Amaty Technical College. Following compulsory military service, he studied film directing at Moscow’s film school, VGIK, where he was chosen among other Kazakh filmmakers to participate in a workshop with renowned Russian director Sergei Solovyov in 1989. Considered part of the cinematic “Kazakh New Wave,” he is a member of Kazakhstan’s Cinematographer’s Union. His first feature, Last Stop (1989), was acclaimed internationally, but created some controversy with the people in his village. His other features include Sergelden (1993), Aksuat (1998), Three Brothers (2000) and The Hunter (2004).
Film Details
Language Kazakh
Year 2013
Runtime 97
Country Kazakhstan
Director Seric Aprymov
Producer Gulmira Zaripova, Dinara Aprymova
Writer Seric Aprymov
Editor Sylvain Coutandin
Cinematographer Aleksandr Rubanov
Music Nurzali Zhienbaev
Cast Almat Galym, Alisher Aprymov
Print Source Dinara Aprymova/ daprymov@yahoo.com