*18 kHz is a sound frequency that adults can’t hear.
A feature film by Farkhat Sharipov
81 min. Centera Production, AlteraPars
Film Festivals & Screenings:
- Warsaw IFF, Poland, 2020 – Competition – WINNER – GRAND PRIX
- Busan IFF, South Korea, 2020 – Section: A Window on Asian Cinema
- Cottbus IFF, Germany, 2020 – U18 Youth Film Competition- Best Youth Film
- Giffoni IFF, Italy, 2021 – Official Competition
- Moscow IFF, Russia, 2021 – Section “Young and Beautiful”
- Kazan International Muslim Film Festival, 2021, Russia – Competition – GRAND PRIX
- UMUT, Forum of young filmmakers, Kyrgyzstan – Closing Film
- International Film Festival SCHLINGEL, Germany, 2021 – Panorama.
- Cinemagic International Film Festival Belfast, Ireland, 2021
- JUNIORFEST IFF, Czech Republic, 2021
- Black Nights Film Festival, Estonia, 2021 – Just Film’s Youth
Almaty is the place where director Farkhat Sharipov himself was born and raised is also where the story of his film plays out. Based on the novel “Hardcore” by Zara Yesenaman, it accompanies two friends who slide ever deeper into a vortex of drugs and violence. Between the sorrow of the big city and the heroin boom of the 1990s, they sound out the limits of freedom. Yet when one of them overdoses, this social study turns into a personal horror trip for the other. In his grief and under the influence of drugs, Sanjar can no longer distinguish between dream and reality. His mother and the rest of the family have long lost the ability to talk to him, and his love for Alice cannot heal him either. It’s too late to return to normality.
Short Synopsis
Gulnara lost her ring and suspects that her teenage son Sanjar stole it. Meanwhile, Sanjar is passionate by exploring life with his best friend is Jaga. Boys spend all the time together dreaming about freedom and discovering all the prohibited places with “no entry” signs.
- Director, Scriptwriter – Farkhat Sharipov
- Producers – Farkhat Sharipov, Dina Zhumabek
- Creative Producer – Yuliya Kim
- DOP – Alexander Plotnikov
- Production Designer – Alexey Shindin
- Music – Ilya Odegov
Cast:
Musakhan Zhumakhanov (Sancho), Alibek Adiken (Djaga), Kamila Fun-So (Alice), Roman Zhukov (Max), Makhabbat Sarkytpayeva (Sancho’s mother).
PRESS
Students from Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany were the jury for the U18 Youth Film Competition. They chose the Kazakh drama about drugs 18 KILOHERTZ (Kazakhstan 2020) as the winner. Director Farkhat Sharipov receives the EUR 5,000 prize for the best youth film, donated by the city of Cottbus. On their decision, the jury said: „[….] Not only it had impacted us while watching it, but also had stayed in our minds and hearts as we began to live again – after the movie had took our breaths away.“ FilmFestival Cottbus
18 kHz is a vibrant and kinetic coming-of-age drama which pits the trials and tribulations of youth with the growing drug culture of the era. Based on Zara Yesenaman’s novel Hardcore and mixing with director Farkhat Sharipov’s memories of his own adolescence, we’re transported into a world of degradation, desire and dilapidation. Set to a thrilling soundtrack, 18kHz skilfully conjures up the excitement and dangers of a period of national change and exploration. – Rob Aldam, Backseat Mafia