RESTORING FAMILY HONOR IN KYRGYZSTAN

MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, September 1, 2016 --  An Airbus jetliner touches down in an airport in Kyrgyzstan.  Azat, a 20-something Kyrgyz who has been living in the United States for 15 years, has returned to his native country to fulfill an obligation – and to restore his family’s honor.

Azat’s father, Murat, died in the U.S. a year ago. It was his last wish that money he borrowed from people in his village be repaid. But when Azat arrives at the house that his family had occupied, he finds the house abandoned and in disrepair.

Directed by Bakyt Mukul and Dastan Zhapar Uulu, “A Father’s Will” is a story of family, friendship, changing demographics, and ancient custom. After his arrival at the family home and as he goes about contacting those who had lent money to his father, Azat discovers a village nearly frozen in time, with dirt roads and horse-drawn wagons and many young people determined to leave and create a better future.

At first, Azat is met with some hostility from those who lent money to his father. And his initial contact with his father’s brother, Choro, is met with indifference. But Azat persists, and in parallel he begins to restore the family home, an effort which becomes a metaphor for restoring his family’s integrity. He later meets with the elders of the village and explains that his father had been cremated, an unprecedented situation that leaves the elders unsure of what to do. They resolve the situation by giving Murat’s ashes a proper Kyrgyz funeral and burial.

The 114-minute film is both bleak, in its depiction of a tribal society that seems to have not progressed, and beautiful, especially the vistas of snow-capped mountains. Western viewers will find its pacing slow, but perhaps this was a deliberate decision by the directors to reflect how time seems to have stood still in this Kyrgyz village. What’s left unresolved is whether Azat stays or returns to the U.S.