Adilkhan Yerzhanov

Adilkhan Yerzhanov is a director and screenwriter who was born 7 August 1982 in Zhezqazghan, Kazakhtan. He began attending Zhurgenov Kazakh National Academy of Arts in 2004, and graduated in 2009 with a specialization in directing. He is a two-time participant in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival (The Owners, 2014 and The Gentle Indifference of the World, 2018). He participated in the Horizons competition program of the 77th Venice International Film Festival (Yellow Cat, 2020). He is a laureate of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (the “Asian Oscar”) in the category “Best Director” for the film A Dark-Dark Man. He was awarded the TRT Award for the film Ulbolsyn in the CineLink Work in Progress section of the Sarajevo Film Festival. He was a participant in the Main Competition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. He participated in the main competitions of the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Warsaw Film Festival (the films A Dark-Dark Man and Atbai’s Fight, respectively).

He is a member of the European Film Academy and the Academy of Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

The films The Owners and The Gentle Indifference of the World were nominated for APSA awards in the categories “Best Feature Film,” “Best Screenplay,” and “Best Cinematography.” The Owners was very highly regarded by leading international film critics and was included in the catalog The 100 Best Asian Films published by the Busan International Film Festival in 2015.

He participated in the Atelier CineFoundation at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014, the Berlinale Talents studio at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival, and the 2010 Locarno Open Doors Program. He is a Golden Laureate of the Eurasian International Award for the long-awaited breakthrough in the Eurasian film industry.

To date, he has shot 11 feature-length films, the two most recent of which are currently in post-production.