American documentary on the big screen of "Ashgabat"
On Sunday, 18 November, three critically-acclaimed short documentaries from American filmmakers will be shown at the Ashgabat Cinema. Admission to all events is free and open to everyone.
The film screenings, held in Ashgabat with the support of the U.S. Embassy, are organized within the framework of the program American Film Showcase, is a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
The first film Forever, Chinatown (at 14:00, in English with Turkmen subtitles) is the debut work of a talented filmaker from San Francisco James Q. Chan, who has collaborated on Emmy and Grammy-winning projects.
Forever, Chinatown is a story of unknown, self-taught 81-year-old artist Frank Wong who has spent the past four decades recreating his fading memories by building romantic, extraordinarily detailed miniature models of the San Francisco Chinatown rooms of his youth.
The film Sweam Team (at 16:00, in English with Russian subtitles) by Lara Stolman tells about an unusual group of young athletes suffering from autism. Nevertheless, the sport and will power of parents radically change the lives of children. The short film was shown at more than 50 international film festivals and won 13 awards.
The hero of the third film I amYup’ik (at 18:00, in English with Russian subtitles) by Daniele Anastasion, Nathan Golon is 16-year-old Yup'ik Eskimo. He leaves his tiny village and travels across the frozen tundra to compete at basketball tournament.
The screenings will be followed question&answer session with director James Q. Chan, filmmaker Tim Skousen, and American Film Showcase representative Jennifer Phan.
Leading up to the event, American film experts held master classes for students of the Turkmen state Institute of culture, as well as met with their Turkmen colleagues from the Turkmenfilm Association named after Oguzkhan and specialists of the State Committee of Turkmenistan on television, radio broadcasting and cinematography.
