― 20 марта 2025 г.
Film by the Kyrgyz director Ruslan Akun to be released tomorrow in Türkiye: "Paradise is Under the Feet of Mothers"
Kyrgyz director Ruslan Akun's 2024 film Paradise is Under the Feet of Mothers will be released in Türkiye on March 21st, 2025. The film attracts attention with its emotional depth and strong theme. Emil Esenaliyev and Anarkul Nazakulova share the lead roles in the production, which tells the story of Adil, whose mental development remained at the age of 8, and his journey to carry his mother Reyhan to Mecca in a wheelbarrow.
Both visually and emotionally impressive, the film brings the audience together with the themes of humanity, love and sacrifice. Submitted to the Academy Awards by Kyrgyzstan and shot in 5 different countries, the film Heaven is Under the Feet of Mothers stands out as a production that blends the rich culture of the Turkic World with the theme of love and sacrifice.
Ruslan Akun - Common Value of Turkic Peoples: Family and Sacrifice
The Kyrgyz director Ruslan Akun made statements about the work at TURKSOY, which he visited after the special screening held at the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Türkiye before the screening of his film.
Stating that they prepared this film in line with the common culture and values they share with Turkic peoples, Akun said: ‘This film is a production about the love of a mother for her child, how this love can change the world and the efforts of mothers. We have created a work that reflects the brotherhood and unity of the Turkic peoples.’
While giving more details about the content of the film, Akun said, ‘In this film, the main characters travel on foot from Kyrgyzstan to Mecca through all Turkic states for the pilgrimage. This journey in the film is not only a pilgrimage, but also represents the brotherhood and common values of the Turkic peoples. The language, culture and religion of Turkic peoples are the same. This is a very valuable common value for us.’
The film was shot in 5 countries.
The film was shot in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Saying that they waited five years to shhot the film, Akun said: ‘The idea of shooting the film was inspired by pilgrims who did their pilgrimage on foot in ancient times. Could people do this today? This is the question we asked when shooting this film .’ Stating that the film was realized with the support of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Akun said that the film attracted great attention in countries of the Turkic World such as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tatarstan and Dagestan after its release. Akun further said: ‘It reached out to a large audience in these countries and became a record-breaking production. We also met with cinema lovers in Muslim countries such as Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. We are very pleased with the reactions.’
Turkish TV Series and Cultural Relations.
Emphasising the impact of Turkish TV series on the Turkic World in his interview, Akun made the following statements in the last part of the interview: ‘Turkish TV series attract great interest in Turkic countries. This creates a great impact for cultural relations. I also had a dream of filming a series. Although this dream did not come true, there is a one-minute Turkish series in the film ‘Heaven is Under the Feet of Mothers’. This was like a part of my dream for me. The population of the Turkic World is over 200 million. This is a very large audience: we should show our films to each other and produce joint projects. I believe there will be a big film market for the Turkic World. This is my third film in Türkiye. I think that Turkish cinema has a great potential and we should develop our cooperation at every opportunity. We are waiting for all cinema lovers to come and watch our film ‘Heaven is Under the Feet of Mothers’, which will be shown in Turkish cinemas as of March 21st.’
The film will be shown in the following cities pf Türkiye:
- Istanbul: Üsküdar, Fatih, Çamlıca, Eyüp, Zeytinburnu, Bayrampaşa
- Ankara: Sincan, Keçiören, Altındağ, Pursaklar, Mamak, Polatlı
- Izmir: Foça, Bornova, Karabağlar, Gaziemir, Menemen, Aliağa
- Bursa: Osmangazi, Yıldırım, Nilüfer, Gemlik
- Konya: Seljuk, Meram, Karatay
- Adana: Seyhan, Yüreğir, Çukurova, Sarıçam
- Antalya
