Darezhan OMIRBAEV (1958, Uyuk, Kazakhstan) studied applied mathematics. He then went on to study film at the State Film Institute (VGIK) in Moscow. He was a critic for several years for the magazine New Film. In 1991 he won the FIPRESCI Award in Locarno with his debut feature Kairat. Killer won the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes in 1998.

Darezhan Omirbaev

Relationship drama based on Anna Karenina, the classic by Tolstoy, set in the nouveau-riche world of a rapidly changing and modernising Kazakhstan. Chouga faces the same dilemmas as Anna.

IFFR 2008

Chouga, 

Time & Tide

Chouga

Abay Kulbaev

IFFR 2004

Apple, The

short films

The Apple

Timur Suleimenov

Three days filled with adventures of an American in Kasakhstan in which he is confronted with incomprehensible events.

IFFR 1994

Stranger, 

Main Programme

Stranger

Short film about a little boy lacking a female figure in his life. His first crush ends in tragedy.

shadow of a boy, A

A shadow of a boy

A beautifully simple and sad story from today's Kazakhstan. Young man gets into debt by crashing into a Mafioso's car. To save his young family, he has to do everything, even commit murder.

IFFR 1999

Killer, 

after the fall of the wall

Killer

IFFR 2025
30 Jan – 9 Feb 2025

Darezhan Omirbaev

Filmography