Qandas Stories: Documentary Films by Tilek Yrysbek

Tursynkhan Apai’s Shoe Workshop  (2026, 19 min) follows Tursynkhan Apai, a woman who moved from China to Kazakhstan and built her own business through hard work and perseverance. In a small workshop in the village of Aqshi, she crafts shoes by hand, shaping a life and livelihood through her own labor. The film offers a closer look at her daily life, work, and the world she has built for herself.

The Dream of a Qandas Chef  (2026, 15 min) tells the story of Ansar Kozhanuly, who immigrated to Kazakhstan and obtained Kazakhstani citizenship two years ago. He now lives with his family in Baidibek Bi village in the Almaty Region and dreams of opening his own café in Almaty. Alongside Ansar’s culinary skills and aspirations, the film captures the everyday life of Xinjiang-style cafes in the region.

The screening will open with introductory remarks by Tilek Yrysbek, the films’ director and a poet, and Safina Aqtai, a writer and translator, who will introduce the films and their central themes. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the audience on the ethics of representation in media, documentary filmmaking practices, and related questions, concluding with a Q&A session.

Speakers: Bella Qassymqyzy, Yeldes Orda, Tilek Yrysbek

Moderator: Safina Aqtai

Tilek Yrysbek is a filmmaker and poet born in Turgenbulak village, Mongolküre County, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. His work explores the lives and experiences of people shaped by migration, as well as the social issues faced by subaltern groups. He is the director of the documentary films A Xinjiang Person, Dina and the Children of the Dacha, The Candidate, Maqpal, Tursynkhan Apai, and The Dream of a Qandas Chef, as well as the short film You Were Standing on the Shore. His poems have been published in Tamyr, Dactyl, Sygma, and Áńgime magazines. Together with writer Safina Aqtai, he also translated into Kazakh Decoloniality of Being, Knowledge and Perception by Madina Tlostanova, a decolonial scholar and professor at Lingchöping University.

Safina Aqtai is a writer and translator, born in 1996 in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan. She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Philosophy and Ethics at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Her works have been translated into English, Russian, and Turkish and published in the Dauys anthology, Áńgime, Dactyl, and other literary publications. She is the creator of the Friedrich Shegirtke project. In 2025, her debut short story collection Elvis Presley at Burger King and her novel Ganin were published. She also translated into Kazakh Decoloniality of Being, Knowledge and Sensing by scholar Madina Tlostanova, published in 2023 with the support of the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture.

Bella Qassymqyzy is a journalist, screenwriter, and one of the co-founders of the Erkin Adamdar project. Erkin Adamdar fosters collaboration among Kazakh-speaking experts, promotes the recognition of professionals working in the Kazakh language, and supports initiatives rooted in local community engagement. Bella is also known for her civic activism and her work organizing social initiatives. In particular, she organized MausymArt, an event aimed at supporting the families of those who lost their lives during the January events in Kazakhstan. Through her journalistic and public work, Bella pays particular attention to the social and political issues facing Kazakhstan.

Yeldes Orda was born in 1989 in the Tarbagatai region of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. He graduated from Secondary School No. 2 in Tacheng in 2007. In 2012, he earned his bachelor's degree from Minzu University of China in Beijing, and in 2019, he completed his master's degree at Necmettin Erbakan University. He is currently a PhD candidate at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and a research fellow at the Sh. Ualikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology.