Gulnara Sarsenova (, born August 6, 1961) is a Kazakhstani film producer who has produced several award-winning films. She is the only Central Asian producer to receive the Best Asian Filmmaker award at Busan International Film Festival, one of the most significant film festivals in Asia, in 2008.
Biography
She graduated from Kazakh State University in Almaty, majoring in journalism. She completed training courses at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. She received additional vocational education at the University of Phoenix in the United States. During 16 years she successfully worked in business structures. Gulnara is the founder of deluxe merchandise network Fantsuzskiy Dom ("French House") in Kazakhstan. She is also a founder of a popular newspaper Novaya Volna ("New Wave") and the Revue magazine. The subject of her PhD thesis is the aesthetics of youth television shows. In 2005 she founded her own production company Eurasia Film Production. She was awarded a French Bonaparte medal and a diploma of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the achievement in business.
In 2008 Gulnara Sarsenova has received the international Asian Film Maker of the Year award at Pusan International Film Festival and the same year she was nominated for Oscar award with her film "Mongol" directed by Sergey Bodrov Sr. In 2005 and 2008 she was the organizer and general director for Eurasia International Film Festival and in 2010 she was the general director of the 2nd Kazakhstani-American Film Festival held in Almaty.
Filmography
Mongol
"Don't despise a weak cub, it can appear the son of a tiger." -Mongolian proverb
Little boy Temujin, who is to become Genghis Khan, the ruler of the half of the world, overcame hunger, humiliation, slavery. He was hunted, betrayed. He survived, although it seemed impossible. His powers and mind seemed superhuman. He was supported with the love of Börte, Genghis Khan's first and the most loved wife, who couldn't be taken away from him by anybody."
NIKA Russia 2008 film awards
Best Film
Best Director
Best Photography
Best Sound
Best Art Directing
Best Costumes
Academy Award
Oscar Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film 2008
Tulpan
Bulat, the main character, demobilizes and comes back to his loved Kazakhstan. Bulat loves the vast steppe, dusks and dawns. He loves this whole world. He is a former sailor who served with the Pacific Fleet, and he wishes to become a shepherd. And he will become one! But there is a problem: in order to get the flock of sheep he must be married. And there is only one girl around for many kilometers. But what a girl she is! And her name is Tulpan.
Awards
Cannes International Film Festival 2008, Grand prize UN CERTAIN REGARDS
Prize of Young jury
Prize of the French Ministry of Education, ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS – Asia Pacific Screen Awards Best feature film Tokyo International Film Festival 2008 – SAKURA GRAND PRIZE, Prize for the "Best Director" London BFI International Film Festival 2008 – Grand prize "The Sutherland" Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2008 – First prize "East of West" Montreal International Film Festival of New Cinema 2008 – Grand-prize (Louvre d' Or) Zurich Int Film Festival 2008 – Grand prize "Golden Eye"
The film received a total of 53 awards at various International Film Festivals all over the world throughout 2008–2009.
The Market: A Tale of Trade
A semi-musical tale of cross-border black-market trade of Turkey and Azerbaijan; a comic film with a tragic undertow, an entertaining study of the forces of capitalism and globalization, inspired by the plays of Brecht and the films of Yılmaz Güney.
Best male actor (Tayanc Ayaydin) at the Festival De La Geiite
IFF at Gente I Grand prize
Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
Best film
Best script
Best male actor (Tayanc Ayaydin) Best costumes (Zeynep Sarikaya)