Askold Kurov is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and producer, recognized for his work on films focused on human rights issues and social conflicts in contemporary Russia. He has successfully overseen the production of multiple such projects, gaining acclaim at prestigious film festivals worldwide, including Berlinale and Sundance. Among his notable works is "WELCOME TO CHECHNYA," where he served as a producer and cinematographer, a film that was shortlisted for Oscar and BAFTA nominations. Additionally, he directed and produced "OF CARAVAN AND THE DOGS," which won the Best Documentary Award at the Krakow International Film Festival in 2024, as well as "NOVAYA," "THE TRIAL: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov," "CHILDREN 404," and "LENINLAND".

Beyond his filmmaking endeavors, Askold Kurov has been a film school instructor at Un/Filmed, an online film school, since 2021. In this role, he developed and delivered a comprehensive curriculum in documentary filmmaking, while also mentoring students. He is a member of the American Television Academy. His expertise spans all aspects of documentary filmmaking, from research and pre-production to post-production and distribution.

Marianna Kaat is an award-winning filmmaker and producer based in Tallinn, Estonia, with over two decades in the industry. She is the founder of Baltic Film Production (BFP), an independent production company specializing in internationally recognized documentaries.

Her notable works include Slave Island (2025), The Last Relic (2023), Life of Ivanna (2021), Close Relations (2016), Pit No 8 (2011)—all celebrated on the global festival circuit and won numerous awards. She has collaborated with leading directors and contributed to the advancement of creative non-fiction filmmaking.
Beyond filmmaking, Marianna Kaat is an Associate Professor at Tallinn University’s Baltic Film, Media, and Arts School and curates the Doc@PÖFF International Competition at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Her contributions have earned her the Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award, a European Trailblazer title at MIPDOC Cannes, and multiple international festival awards. She is also an active mentor, guest tutor, and jury member at major industry events worldwide.

Katerina Suvorova is a Kazakh documentary filmmaker whose work delves into environmental, social, and cultural shifts in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Through bold cinematic language and artistic exploration, she captures vanishing landscapes, unheard voices, and the resilience of communities in transition.
Her debut feature Sea Tomorrow (2016) paints a poetic portrait of life after ecological catastrophe, following those who remain by the vanished Aral Sea. Premiering at Locarno, the film was later released on Netflix Europe. Face The Music (2019), a reflection on artistic resistance, became a milestone for Kazakhstani documentaries, securing national theatrical release. In 2025, her film Qoryqpa: Streets Loud With Echoes (2024) - a striking study of social fractures and defiance - premiered at Hot Docs in the International Spectrum competition.

As the founder of Tihiy Svet (Quiet Light), she continues to push the boundaries of creative documentary filmmaking in the region.

She runs the DOCUSTAN Telegram channel dedicated to creative documentary filmmaking and is a co-founder of the horizontal initiatives QAZDOC, which unites independent documentary filmmakers in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh film producer, director and scholar based in Almaty. She has over a decade of experience in film production, including six years at Kazakhfilm, and is the founder of Plan B production company.

Her producing credits include the award-winning feature documentary We Live Here, which premiered at CPH:DOX and screened at Hot Docs, DOK.fest München and other international festivals.

She currently develops creative documentaries focusing on Central Asian stories and international co-productions.

Berlin-based documentary filmmaker telling intimate human stories while exploring how individual lives are shaped by wider struggles over power, justice, and dignity.

His films have screened and won awards at major international festivals, including CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Sundance, DOC NYC, Krakow IFF, Shanghai IFF, DOK Leipzig, Docudays UA, and others. His feature documentary Life of Ivanna (2021) won the Zurich Film Festival’s Grand Prix for Best Documentary, alongside numerous additional awards.

As a cinematographer, he worked on the Netflix acquisition Skywalkers: A Love Story, which premiered at Sundance (U.S. Documentary Competition) and screened at Tribeca before receiving an IMAX theatrical release in the United States.

His work has also been broadcast by BBC, The Why, SVT (Sweden), RÚV (Iceland), PTS (Taiwan), and Current Time TV (Czech Republic), among others. His projects have been supported by leading European public and private funders, including German Federal Film Fund, Spain’s ICAA, the Norwegian Film Fund, the Estonian Film Institute, the Kone Foundation, Catapult Film Fund and Fritt Ord.

Invited lecturer at universities in Germany (University of Münster – WWU Weiterbildung), the USA (Dartmouth College, Indiana University, and the University of California, Berkeley), the American University of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan), and in Guatemala.

A highly qualified playwright, director (VGIK graduate), and screenwriter with extensive experience. Aizada is a resident of the International Peredelkino Writers' House, a Nipkow Programm fellow (2024), and an IDFAcademy graduate (2024).

In 2025, she presented her fiction project at the Cannes Film Festival (Munich Film Up program). Her filmography includes award-winning feature films and documentaries. She is also a screenwriter for popular TV series with an audience of over 25 million viewers, which aired on the country's main television channel.

She is actively involved in the development of women's cinema, serving as a resident of the "Creative Women of Asia" foundation and a coordinator for the research project "Study of the Work of Women Directors in Kyrgyzstan".

A photographer and director who studied film and media arts at the American University of Central Asia. In her films, she explores intergenerational conflicts and female identity within the context of the Central Asian region. Alina is an active member of the independent film club "Tartaly," where she creates experimental films. Her debut project, Umai (a documentary about women in Kyrgyzstan), was screened in 2024 at the Film Forum of Women Directors in Kyrgyzstan, and her film The Happiness Seller was nominated for "Best Student Film" at the 48 Hour Film Race 2023.

Her other projects include Red Shoes, Uzak Jol, The Film That Didn't Work Out, Bishkek, I Love You, We Will Play, Zamandash, and Aidar in His Universe.

A documentary filmmaker and a graduate of the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University. In 2023, he won the national "Ak Ilbirs" film award, and in 2024, he was awarded the "Excellent Worker of Kyrgyz Cinema" medal. In 2025, his short documentary film, A Long Road to a Summer Pasture, received the Grand Prix at the 71st International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.

A documentary filmmaker, editor, and lecturer at the Department of Radio, TV, and Cinema at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University.

He holds both a master's and a doctoral degree with dissertations in Journalism. He is the recipient of two "Ak Ilbirs" National Film Awards (2012) for his editing and sound design work on the film Nomadism.

He is a graduate of the II International Film School for Young Filmmakers from CIS and Baltic countries (Moscow, 2009) and the "Film Directing Courses" at Manas University (Bishkek, 2007).

A film scholar, Candidate of Arts, and a member of FIPRESCI. He teaches at the Faculty of Television, Film, and Media Arts at the American University of Central Asia. His research interests include the history of Kyrgyz cinema, film criticism, and documentary filmmaking.

His debut film, Who Is Next? (2023), was the first true crime documentary in Central Asia. It focuses on the practice of bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan. Sultan worked as the director, screenwriter, and producer alongside Nurjamal Karamoldoeva. The film received numerous awards, including a "Special Mention" from the jury at the 39th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and was named "Best National Film" at the 17th Bir Duino – Kyrgyzstan International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival 2023. The film also participated in the Main Competition of the Alternativa Film Awards (Kazakhstan, 2023).

A director, screenwriter, and producer, Nurlan is the founder of the production company "OKOY" (2012). His professional development includes studying marketing management, advertising, and PR at KSRU (2005), as well as attending Robert McKee's "Story on a Million" screenwriting workshop (2012) and a master class with Georgy Molodtsov (2015).

Filmography:

• Thank You, Coach! (2023) — short documentary film, screenwriter, director.
• Citizen (2021) — short documentary film, screenwriter, director.
• My Kyrgyzstan (2019) — short documentary film, screenwriter, director, producer.

A documentary filmmaker and editor, Nazgul is a graduate of the Department of Radio, TV, and Cinema at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University.

She has worked as an editing engineer on both fiction and documentary films, including projects such as Eshenaly Arabaev (2021), Salbuurun (2022), Kachkyn (2023), and Umai (2024), as well as recent films like Köz Irem (2024) and Aijan (2025).

In addition to her editing work, Nazgul has served as an assistant director on several projects at the "Kyrgyzfilm" studio (Eshenaly Arabaev, Ene Til, Ayan) and worked as a sound engineer (Taza Suu, Er, Sputnik for Burulai). Her directorial debut was with her graduation film, Tamchy (2021).

An emerging documentary film producer and director from Kyrgyzstan, Rasmiia is a graduate of the American University of Central Asia. She attended the CEU Summer School on Documentary Filmmaking focusing on human rights (Budapest, 2024) and the Un/Filmed intensive documentary course (Bishkek, 2024).

Her debut short film, Sürgünlər, explores the fragility of identity, memory, and language within the context of a vanishing culture.

Her works include:

• The Price of Freedom (2022, short documentary, co-director, editor)
• Patience (2024, short documentary, co-director, camera operator)
• There Is No Death After the Dead (2025, short fiction film, producer)
• Sürgünlər (2025, short documentary, director, producer, camera operator).

A camera operator and director, Aijanat is currently a student at the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University. She is also a member of the independent creative group "Tartaly," which focuses on making experimental films.

She served as director, camera operator, and editor on two of her short documentary films, shot during a Tartaly expedition:

• Don't Film Me! (2025)
• Daughter, Let's Go to the Mountains (2025)

As part of this laboratory, Aijanat is working on her third project – a feature-length documentary film – in collaboration with director Marat Ergeshov.

A documentary filmmaker and media strategist with extensive experience in managing projects, campaigns, and content production. She brings her expertise in storytelling, media development, and strategic outreach to both local and globally relevant projects. Currently, she is working on her feature documentary, Indira, which follows the life and work of a human rights activist in Kyrgyzstan. Gulbara is her second project and with a background in journalism and strategic communications, she plays a key role in ensuring impactful international collaborations.

Filmography
A Little Bit of Mischief (2023, 4 min) – Winner, Best Amateur Film, 48 Hour Film Race Contest
I Grew Up Here (2023, 14 min) – Screened at Method Doc Festival, Almaty

Training & Labs
Course for Producers, Antares Creative Group (2022), Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Documentary Course, Almcinema (2023), I Grew Up Here, A Little Bit of Mischief
Eurasia Doc (2023–24) – Pitched Indira
Tashkent WomenDoc (2024), Indira

• Alternativa Impact Lab (2024) – Main Prize for Impact Strategy, Ayalzatym, jasha!

Anastasia Lysogorova is a filmmaker from Kyrgyzstan working across documentary and fiction, whose films explore intimate human experiences, change and belonging.

A graduate of the AUCA, she has participated in film programs at Rotterdam and Atelier Varan, and has worked on international film productions across feature films, television, and documentary as a director, editor, cinematographer, and other crew roles.

She is currently finishing her debut feature-length documentary Synergy.

Has been working in the field of television journalism for 27 years. In 2025, with the support of the T. Okeev National Kyrgyzfilm Film Studio, Mars managed to make two documentary, debut films. "From Heart to Heart" and "Spiritual Burden" are 20-minute visual documentaries.

A researcher, writer, documentary filmmaker, co-owner of the company chemodan.films, and a doctoral candidate at Humboldt University in Berlin

An independent researcher and social entrepreneur. She is the founder of Bir Qyzyq Jer, a cultural space and showroom in Bishkek.

A director and screenwriter. He studied under Kyrgyz director Marat Sarulu, explored world cinema, and is currently a member of the Tartaly creative group. He currently works primarily in documentary filmmaking.

A director with a passion for documentary filmmaking and a deep empathy for animals and nature. A proactive event manager who can effectively manage large volumes of information and coordinate people accordingly.

Studied at the Gapar Aitiev Art School in Osh. Attended Ernest Abdyzhaparov's filmmaking workshop, where he directed his first short films, Scanner and 51+. Graduated from the B. Beishenaliev Kyrgyz State University of Culture and Arts, Film Directing/Cinematography (workshop of T. Ibragimov), graduating in 2026.

A director and DP whose work draws on personal lived experience to explore memory, abandonment, and the search for belonging through a restrained, poetic cinematic language.

His debut short film, Farewell, premiered at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, where it received a Special Mention from the Jury. His later shorts, Shades of Melancholy and Infant, premiered at the Busan and Beijing International Film Festivals and have received awards at festivals worldwide.

His debut feature documentary The Dogs won the Best Director prize at Artdocfest/Riga in 2026.

A Kyrgyz director and screenwriter working in both fiction and documentary film. His first short film, "Romeo," received international recognition, including selection for the Locarno Filmmakers Academy in 2025. He is also a participant in the International Film Camp 2025 by the Asian Film Awards Academy and a winner of the camp's production grant for his project "Forgive Me, Friend".