Bikechess

Last updated
Bikechess
Directed byAssel Aushakimova
Written byAssel Aushakimova
Produced byAntoine Simkine, Almagul Thleukhanova, Kifrik Martin
StarringSaltanat Nauruz
Assel Abdimavlenova
Shyngys Beibituly
Duisenbek Sydykbekov
CinematographyAidar Ospanov
Edited byAlanté Kavaïté
Production
companies
Les Films d’Antoine (France), Alma Pictures (Kazakhstan), Maipo Film (Norway)
Release date
Running time
100 minutes
Country Kazakhstan
LanguageRussian

Bikechess is a 2024 film written and directed by Assel Aushakimova. The French-Kazakh-Norwegian co-production had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on 9 June 2024, where the film won Best International Narrative Feature. [1]

Contents

With dark humour, the film dissects the levels of absurdity that the state will embrace and the constraints journalists face when striving to maintain ethical standards in the face of institutional pressures. [2]

Plot

The film's title refers to a new sport invented in Kazakhstan that consists of playing chess while pedalling a fitness bike, a subject that Dina covers as the government's latest innovation for the Kazakh populace. She works as a journalist for the Kazakh national television station and the stories she is asked to report on are increasingly absurd. Dina also looks after her young sister, a lesbian activist, who regularly finds herself in trouble with the authorities and her love life is limited to a few secret meetings with her married cameraman. Dina continues her professional duties, motivated by the promise of a coveted government position. [3]

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Cineuropa: "Bikechess is a dry, minimalist, and deadpan tragicomedy, structured episodically. Each segment might seem poised to launch into a comedic sketch, yet it is the prolonged exposition, driven by slow-burning observation, that transforms the entire sequence of meaningless events and campaigns into a punchline—revealing them as mere government propaganda purportedly aimed at serving the public. Aushakimova merges this portrayal with a critique of a life under a repressive regime, run not by the competent but by the vain, and thus paints a broader social critique that transcends Kazakhstan." [3]

In Review Online: "The director borrows and translates quite a bit from the modern European social-drama school developed by filmmakers like the Dardenne brothers into the Kazakh context. The dialectic creates something familiar to both worlds, but new in itself." [4]

Variety: "Aushakimova and cinematographer Aidar Ospanov take an unobtrusive, almost documentarian approach to each scene, which works to capture reaction shots that comment on various ongoing government rigmaroles. However, its more personal narratives, involving Dina and her immediate circle, often end up approached as superficially as the fluff pieces she’s forced to cover, with no real recourse." [5]

The jury of Tribeca Festival: “Pointing out through comedic eyes the absurdity to which the state can go to hide deeper issues, the jury truly appreciates the director’s fresh look at the ethics of journalism.” [6]

Accolades

2023 : Works in Progress award - Karlovy Vary International Film Festival [6]

2024 : Best International Narrative Feature - Tribeca Festival.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karlovy Vary International Film Festival</span> Annual film festival in the Czech Republic

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe's leading film event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema of Russia</span>

The cinema of Russia, popularity known as Mollywood, refers to the film industry in Russia, engaged in production of motion pictures in Russian language. The popular term Mollywood is a portmanteau of "Moscow" and "Hollywood".

Maipo Film is a Norwegian film production company founded in 2000. It created the Oscar-nominated film "Elling" (2001), starring Per Christian Ellefsen (Elling), Sven Nordin, Marit Pia Jacobsen (Reidun), Jørgen Langhelle and Per Christiansen, based on the novel "Brødre i Blodet" by Ingvar Ambjørnsen. Maipo followed the Elling success with a sequel and produced other feature films. Maipo won Best International Narrative Feature at Tribeca Festival 2024 with Bikechess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ondi Timoner</span> American film director

Ondi Doane Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and chief executive officer of Interloper Films, a production company located in Pasadena, California.

<i>Prisoner of the Mountains</i> 1996 Russian film

Prisoner of the Mountains, also known as Prisoner of the Caucasus, is a 1996 Russian war drama film directed by Sergei Bodrov, based on the 1872 short story The Prisoner in the Caucasus by Leo Tolstoy. The film explores the clash between traditional Chechen culture and Russian military tactics during the First Chechen War, focusing on the personal struggle between two Russian soldiers and their Chechen captors.

<i>She Monkeys</i> 2011 Swedish film

She Monkeys is a 2011 Swedish drama film directed by Lisa Aschan, starring Mathilda Paradeiser, Linda Molin and Isabella Lindqvist. The film focuses on psychological power struggles between two teenage girls engaged in equestrian vaulting.

<i>Una noche</i> 2012 film

Una noche is a 2012 Cuban-set drama-thriller film written and directed by Lucy Mulloy and starring Dariel Arrechaga, Anailín de la Rúa de la Torre, and Javier Nuñez Florián.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emir Baigazin</span> Kazakh actor and film director

Emir Kenzhegazyuly Baigazin is a Kazakh actor and film director, active in the genres of auteur cinema and art-house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema of Kazakhstan</span>

Cinema of Kazakhstan refers to the film industry based in Kazakhstan. Cinema in Kazakhstan can be traced back to the early 20th century. Today, Kazakhstan produces approximately fifteen full-length films each year.

<i>Zero Motivation</i> 2014 film

Zero Motivation is a 2014 Israeli black comedy film directed by Talya Lavie. The film premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival where it received two awards. It was nominated for twelve Ophir Awards, and won six of them including prizes for writer/director Talya Lavie. It was the most successful Israeli film of 2014, seen by 590,000 people in Israel alone.

<i>Afterlife</i> (2014 film) 2014 Hungarian film

Afterlife is a 2014 Hungarian comedy film directed by Virág Zomborácz, starring Márton Kristóf and László Gálffi.

<i>The Magic Mountain</i> (2015 film) 2015 Romanian film

The Magic Mountain is a 2015 Romanian animated drama film directed by Anca Damian. It tells the story of Adam Jacek Winkler, a Polish anti-communist who in the 1980s fought against the Soviet Union in the Soviet–Afghan War, alongside Ahmad Shah Massoud. The film was co-produced with French and Polish companies. It was made using a mix of animation techniques and Winkler's personal photographs, sketches and film footage. The English-language version of the film stars Jean-Marc Barr as the voice of Winkler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Weinrib</span> Producer

Eric Weinrib is a filmmaker and TV producer from Plainview, New York, United States.

<i>Dean</i> (film) 2016 American film

Dean is a 2016 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Demetri Martin and produced by Honora Productions. The film stars Martin, Gillian Jacobs and Kevin Kline. Martin plays the title character, Dean, who is a published cartoon artist who draws in a simple style with felt pen and Bristol board. The drawings in the film are done by Martin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quinn Shephard</span> American actress, film producer and director

Quinn Shephard is an American actress, film director, producer, screenwriter and film editor. She played the roles of Donna Malone in the Christmas comedy Unaccompanied Minors and Morgan Sanders in the television series Hostages. In 2017, her feature film directorial debut, Blame, screened at several film festivals and earned critical attention.

<i>The Hater</i> (2020 film) 2020 Polish film by Jan Komasa

The Hater is a 2020 Polish social thriller film directed by Jan Komasa and written by Mateusz Pacewicz. The plot centres around an expelled university student from Warsaw who attempts to steer the internet, causing widespread hatred and violence. It premiered on 6 March 2020 in Poland and went on to win the Best International Narrative Feature Award at Tribeca Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darko Lungulov</span> Serbian-American film director

Darko Lungulov is a Serbian-American film director, screenwriter, and film producer.

<i>The Father</i> (2019 film) 2019 film by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov

The Father is a 2019 Bulgarian drama film directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov. The film premiered at the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where it won the Crystal Globe award for best film. It was selected as the Bulgarian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliane Umuhire</span> Rwandan-French actress

Eliane Umuhire is a French-rwandan actress based in France. Her artistic career explores themes of identity, memory and resilience. Her work has been featured in films presented at prestigious international festivals, where she has won awards for her acting and social commitment. Notably acclaimed for her role in the Polish film Birds Are Singing in Kigali by Krzystof Krauze & Joanna Kos, Eliane has been honored with Best Actress awards at festivals such as the Chicago International Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Gdynia Polish Fiction Festival, the Polish Festival in New York, the Let's CEE Festival in Vienna, as well as the Mastercard Rising Star award at the Netia Off Camera independent film festival.

<i>My Love Affair with Marriage</i> 2022 film

My Love Affair with Marriage is a 2022 semi-autobiographical adult animated musical comedy-drama film animated, written and directed by Signe Baumane, her second feature following Rocks in My Pockets (2014). The story follows a young woman, Zelma, on her 23-year quest for perfect love and lasting marriage, set against a backdrop of historic events in Eastern Europe. Pressured by Mythology Sirens to be the ideal woman and is unable to free herself from the biology of her own brain, Zelma finds love and loses it multiple times before discovering who she really is. Told from a female point of view, this is a coming-of-age story of love, gender, marriage, abuse, hopes, fantasies, and ultimately, finding a better place for women in society.

References

  1. ↑ "Tribeca Festival Announces 2024 Competition Winners". Tribeca. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  2. ↑ "Bikechess | 2024 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  3. 1 2 "Review: Bikechess". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  4. ↑ Gorham, Luke (2024-06-19). "Bikechess — Assel Aushakimova [Tribeca '24 Review]". In Review Online. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  5. ↑ Adlakha, Siddhant (2024-06-18). "'Bikechess' Review: A Withheld Kazakh Comedy-Drama About State Propaganda". Variety. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  6. 1 2 Barraclough, Leo (2023-07-05). "'Bikechess,' a Dark Comedy About Journalism in Kazakhstan, Wins Karlovy Vary Works in Progress Award". Variety. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.