This Is What I Remember
An amnesiac old man Zarlyk who after twenty-three years of ordeal in a foreign land, returns to his homeland. Events take place in a village in Kyrgyzstan, where he is brought by his matured son Kubat. Much has changed during his absence: the morals of the villagers, mired in the realities of a changing world, radicalization of Islam, growing crime, and moral corrosive corruption began to consume... Zarlyk’s wife Umsunai, having lost hope of his return, went into religion, married the local authority Jaichy. The bright past invades the already accustomed Umsunai’s life. But nothing touches Zarlyk. An inexplicable passion for collecting garbage replaced him everything. Will the memory return to him and will Umsunai gain lost happiness when they are pressed by tight attitudes and immorality of the clergy, when love has eclipsed recklessness?
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Cast
12 people
Aktan Arym Kubat Director · Dalmira Tilepbergen Writer Talant Akynbekov Cinematographer
United States release October 27, 2022 · Produced in France, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Netherlands, Singapore · Languages Arabic, Kyrgyz
Production
Kyrgyzfilm
Production
Bitters End
Production
Mandra Films
Production
Oy Art Film Producing Company
Production
Volya Films
Production
France · Japan · Kyrgyzstan · Netherlands · Singapore
Produced in
Languages
Original title
Esimde
Original language
Kyrgyz
Spoken on screen
Arabic · Kyrgyz
Release dates
United States · October 27, 2022
Premiere
Netherlands · September 21, 2023
Theatrical
France
December 17, 2025 · Theatrical
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