Kazakh film 'Mūğalım' to compete at prestigious San Sebastián Festival

The festival, which runs from September 18 to 26 in San Sebastián, is one of the oldest and most respected film festivals in the world.

The New Directors section is a key competition program focused on discovering and promoting emerging filmmakers from around the world, presenting their first or second feature films.

The film, commissioned by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Culture and Information and supported by the State Center for Support of National Film, tells the story of a music teacher in the small town of Balkhash who dreams of moving to a big city. When the chance comes, he has to choose what really matters: whether art is inside him, or whether he belongs to art.

The film marks the debut of director Ayana Nurdinova. It is also the first Kazakh film in the festival's history to be directed by a woman.

It is worth noting that with over 70 years of history, the San Sebastián International Film Festival has become one of the world's most prestigious cinematic venues. It hosted the world premiere of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and the European premiere of George Lucas's Star Wars.

The festival has played a key role in the careers of directors such as Roman Polanski, Bong Joon Ho, Francis Ford Coppola, and Pedro Almodóvar. The New Directors section also introduced the world to Oscar-winning South Korean director Bong Joon Ho.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency compiled a selection of well-known films based on or inspired by ancient Greek myths.