Askar Ilyassov won an award for the best male role for his performance in “Paralympian” at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Film Festival, QazMonitor reports.
Representatives of Uzbekistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, India, China, Russia, Azerbaijan, Myanmar, Armenia and Sri Lanka took part in the SCO Film Festival. The festival presented 57 films from SCO countries.
"I feel very happy. When they told me I won... Honestly, I even cried. There was a lot of work done on the film. It's my first individual award, and I was very touched that my work was appreciated,” Ilyassov said.
According to the actor, the film is about overcoming oneself and getting out of one’s comfort zone. The plot follows Maksat as he is given a second chance to compete for Olympic gold after a terrible accident.
"We had a mission: we wanted to talk about the Paralympians. They filmed with us, and our team was friendly,” Ilyasov said. “Overall, the film is about the strength of the human spirit. And we wanted to show the spirit of the Paralympians.”
The director of the movie, Aldiyar Bayrakimov, praised Ilyassov’s performance noting that the role is physically and psychologically demanding.
"For me, ‘Paralympian’ is a special project that really tested me and everyone involved in it, but despite all the difficulties and the fact that many people in this project were inexperienced, the film is a success,” Bayrakimov said.
“Audiences in different parts of the world love it, understand the story, and empathize with the characters. And most importantly, viewers change their attitude towards Paralympic sport, stop worrying about their everyday problems and become motivated and inspired after watching it.”
“‘Paralympian’ will forever remain in my heart and in the hearts of our entire film crew.”
