Tulpan

2008 Comedy Drama

Having just completed his naval service, a young man travels back to the Kazakh steppe to take a bride and begin his new life as a shepherd. Asa is eager to go back to the countryside, where he plans on living a nomadic life along with his sister and her husband. His sister's husband is a shepherd, a career that Asa, too, hopes to someday undertake. But before that happens, Asa will have to find a bride -- not an easy task on the deserted steppe. Young Tulpan is the daughter of another shepherd family and the most obvious choice, yet she isn't attracted to Asa due to his big ears. Will Tulpan ever be able to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a shepherd, or is he forever condemned to lead the life of a lonely bachelor?

Director: Sergei Dvortsevoy

Starring: Askhat Kuchinchirekov, Samal Yeslyamova, Bereke Turganbayev, Tolepbergen Baisakalov, Ondas Besikbasov

Reviews

  • I swear to you that if you live in a place where this film is playing, it is the best film in town.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    13 May 2013

  • If you see only one comic love story from Kazakhstan this year, choose this prize-winning honey.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    13 May 2013

  • In every respect, this unclassifiable movie is an amazing accomplishment.

    J. Hoberman - Village Voice

    13 May 2013

  • Polished, funny and utterly charming.

    Ray Bennett - The Hollywood Reporter

    13 May 2013

  • In the tradition of ethnographic dramas from "Nanook of the North" to "The Fast Runner," Tulpan drops us in the middle of a godforsaken nowhere and marvels at the people who live there.

    Ty Burr - The Boston Globe

    13 May 2013

Awards

  • Best Film

    Asia Pacific Screen Awards (2008)

  • Best Cinematographer

    Asian Film Awards (2009)

  • Sergei Dvortsevoy

    British Film Institute Awards (2008)

  • Sergei Dvortsevoy

    Cannes Film Festival (2008)

  • Sergei Dvortsevoy

    Cinemanila International Film Festival (2009)