THE FALL OF OTRAR

Special Features: New 4K Restoration | 35th Anniversary

[ОТЫРАРДЫҢ КҮЙРЕУІ] [OTYRARDYÑ KÜIREWI]
Kazakh New Wave director Ardak Amirkulov’s THE FALL OF OTRAR is a hypnotic epic about one of world history’s crucial military battles. In the early 13th century, Genghis Khan conquered Otrar, a major city in the old Persian kingdom of Khwarazm and a gateway to the West. This victory marked the fearsome warrior’s first campaign beyond traditional Mongol territory — and the opening salvo to his near-complete domination of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Evoking the dynamic pacing of Akira Kurosawa and the hallucinatory sensuousness of Tarkovsky (aided by a deft alternation among color, black-and-white and sepia film stocks), Amirkulov follows the buildup to war through the eyes of Undzhu (Dokhdurbek Kydyraliyev), an audacious Kipchak soldier who tries to convince Khwarazm’s ruler (Tungyshbai Dzhamankulov) of Khan’s imminent invasion. As a former Mongol scout, Unjukhan well knows Khan’s canniness and brutality, but when his pleas are taken for insolence, he must escape imprisonment to stop an escalating diplomatic crisis and to avert a clash of civilizations. With a panoramic scope that covers the intimate details of palace intrigue as well as the merciless sweep of battlefield carnage, THE FALL OF OTRAR is a masterful imagining of the seismic changes of history — and a terrifying, electrifying feast for the senses. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR Ardak Amirkulov; SCR Aleksei German, Svetlana Karmalita; PROD Aleksei German. Kazakhstan/USSR, 1991, color/b&w, 157 min. In Kazakh, Mandarin and Mongolian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in collaboration with Ardak Amirkulov. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. GIBEL OTRARA (1991) was restored in 4K from the original camera and sound negatives. Scanning was performed by ARDFILM in Almaty (Republic of Kazakhstan). Ardak Amirkulov supervised the scanning and approved the final grading. Special thanks to Daniel Bird. Restoration work was completed in 2024 by L’Immagine Ritrovata.

Run Time: 157 Minutes

Opening Date: Friday, June 05, 2026

Genre: War drama

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