Songs from the Southern Seas

Kazakh film

Songs from the Southern Seas

Pesn' Juzhnykh Morej
Directed by| Marat Sarulu
Written by| Marat Sarulu
Produced by| Sain Gabdullin
Karsten Stoter
Benny Dreschsel
Yuri Obukhov
Guillaume de Seille
Cinematography| Georgii Beridze
Edited by| Karl Riedl
Music by| Andrei Sigle

Running time

| 82 minutes
Countries| Kazakhstan
Russia
France
Germany
Languages| Kazakh
Russian
French
German

Songs from the Southern Seas or Song from the Southern Seas (Russian: Песни южных морей) is a 2008 Kazakh, German, French and Russian film directed by Marat Sarulu and produced by Sain Gabdullin, Karsten Stoter, Benny Dreschsel, Yuri Obukhov, Guillaume de Seille with English subtitles. The film was made under the following banners— Kino Company, Rohfilm, Kinoproba, Arizona Films.[1][2][3]

## Plot

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The film revolves around the lives of two couples: Ivan and his wife Mariia who are Russians; and Asaan and his wife who are Kazakh. Both families are living in camaraderie in a village in Great Steppe in Kazakhstan till a twist occurs in their lives. Maria gets pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy with dark complexion. Seeing the new-born's[check spelling] skin color, Ivan becomes suspicious and feels Maria has an affair with Asaan, who has similar complexion. This causes a rift between the two families that lasts 15 years and then takes a fateful turn. The young son of Ivan left his school studies and starts wandering around on his horse, gets into trouble with horse riders of Kyrgyz for stealing their cattle. His brother-in-law, a Cossack, also thrashes him for his lack of knowledge of his genealogy. Ivan, feeling rootless, meets his grandfather, who tells him about his family's multinational background. During this time Asaan is also in search of his distinct personality and sitting on the steppe, broods about a “woman of the southern seas” who could give him peace of mind.[2][3][4] After some time, Asaan's wife also becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child with ginger-color complexion, which is similar to Ivan's complexion. The film is set around the Lake Issyk-kul in Kyrgyzstan.[2]

## Cast

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* Irina Angejkina as Maria
* Vladimir Yavorsky as Ivan
* Dzhaidarbek Kunguzhinov as Asan
* Ajzhan Ajtenova as Aisha

## Production

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The film is directed by Marat Sarulu, who is also the story writer. The producers are Sain Gabdullin, Karsten Stöter, Benny Dreschsel, Yuri Obukhov, and Guillaume De Seille. Cinematography is credited to Seille. The film is edited by Giorgi Beridze and sound recording is by Karl Riedl.[3] The production crew consisting of Kazakh, Russian, German, French conveys a message of international cooperation in film production. The music is folk based. The film's running time is 80 minutes.[1] The worldwide premiere of the film was on 14 October 2009.[4]

## References

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1. ^ a b "Song From The Southern Seas". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
2. ^ a b c "Marat Sarulu: Song from the Southern Seas (Pesn' iuzhnykh morei, 2008)". KinoKultura. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
3. ^ a b c "Songs from the Southern Seas". The Global Film Initiative. Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
4. ^ a b "Songs from the Southern Seas (2009)". Internet Movie Data Base.

## External links

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* Songs from the Southern Seas at IMDb