Chingiz Karibekov

Writer-director

Belgium

Chingiz Karibekov graduated from RITCS and directed music videos for artists such as Bob Marley, Robin Shulz and Cool Joe, and commercials for clients such as Brussels Airport and Bozar. His radio play, BACK-UP, was selected for the NTR Radioprize. He has written and produced award-winning short films, BOI & DA YIE, nominated for the BAFTA LA and Student Academy Awards. He co-wrote the miniseries, SHAQ, for VRT. His feature-length film, POSTCARD, won second prize at the Sam Spiegel FilmLab. His TV-series, CLEMENCEAU, was selected for Torino Series Lab 2020. He is selected for Kids Kino Lab 2021. In 2020, he was listed as one of the ten most promising filmmakers in Belgium and Netherlands by the NRC, national newspaper.

Project

Festival

During the summer music festival in Ghent, a Belarussian family, consisting of a mother, Olga, and her two kids, Ana and Vlad, grapples with their deportation order. They have one last appeal left and Olga, who wants to marry another refugee, Simal, refuses to simply pack her things and leave. Ana, her fifteen year old daughter, disagrees with this decision, but has to help her find another place to stay when the police come to visit their old home. Given the fact that Simal is a Kurdish muslim, makes matters worse, as the Russian Orthodox community refuses to accept the union.
Ana has had a prophetic dream that once they’re back in their home country, everything will be okay. Knowing that the only thing standing in the way is the love between her mom and Simal, she will do whatever it takes to get them home.
“Festival” is a story about forbidden love, broken families and the pain of not belonging. While the city celebrates, a small family tries to find its place in the world.