River of Nomads
"Rivers are the biographers of landscapes, carrying the tales of the people, foxes and stones they flow among. This film follows the currents of the Chu, a wellspring of Central Asian nomad culture facing ecological disaster." -- Paul Salopek
The documentary film River of Nomads is a product of a cultural research expedition. In May 2021, Adamdar/CA project’s team of explorers, documentarians, and artists from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan carried out an expedition from the source to the mouth of the Chu river. The expedition was a part of Adamdar/CA's eco-cultural project JerSu.
The group traversed over 2,500 kilometers along the winding Chu river, from the source beneath the glaciers in the Naryn region of the Kyrgyz Republic to its mouth in the steppes of Kazakhstan’s Jambyl province. The group gathered many stories about the river, its meaning, its past, present and the future. Some of these stories made it into the documentary film River of Nomads.
Produced with the support of Go Viral Central Asia, the film premiered in June 2021 at the annual festival in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Crew Members
Producer: Malika Autalipova
Screenwriter & Director: Timur Nusimbekov
Film Editor: Daniyar Armakayev
Artists: Jyldyz Bekova, Roman Zakharov
Composer: Emil Dosov
Motion Design: Roman Zakharov
Director of Photography: Daniyar Armakayev
Camera Operators: Malika Autalipova, Timur Nusimbekov
Script Editors: Maya Akisheva, Valentina Michelotti
Sound Editor: Emil Dosov
Narrators: Malika Autalipova, Timur Nusimbekov
Soundtrack: Recitation from an excerpt of “Manas”, “Ilgeri-Ilgeri” by ZERE, “Sululyq” by Nasiafromasia (written by Kazybek Spanov, JCS), “Bir án salam” by Qonyratbay Fam
*All images are the sole property of Adamdar/CA and may not be republished without expressed consent.
Photographer, editor, co‑founder and creative director at Adamdar/CA.
Journalist, independent art curator, co‑founder and editor-in-chief at Adamdar/CA.
