Adilkhan Yerzhanov's thriller Steppenwolf (Дала Қасқыры), a take on Hermann Hesse's iconic novel, clinched the Golden Raven Award grand prix at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), QazMonitor reports.
What happened: On April 21, the BIFFF's international jury awarded Steppenwolf—a neo-Western spin on Hermann Hesse's classic—the Golden Raven Award, the main prize of the International Competition. The staff of the Kazakh Embassy in Brussels received the prize on behalf of the film crew.
In the International competition, Steppenwolf competed against eight films – The Sin (dir. Han Dong-seok), Penalty Loop (dir. Shinji Araki), Tim Travers and The Time Traveller’s Paradox (dir. Stimson Snead), Interstate (dir. Jean-Luc Herbulot), Exhuma (dir. Jang Jae-hyun), Things Will Be Different (dir. Michael Felker). Your Monster (dir. Caroline Lindy) and Cuckoo (dir. Tilman Singer) were each awarded the Silver Raven Award.
The world premiere of Steppenwolf took place at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 31, followed by recognition on April 11 when Yerzhanov's film was awarded the Prix de la Critique at Reims Polar, the 4th Thriller Film Festival in France.
Film’s synopsis: In a small town where the police are in conflict with armed criminals, a young woman named Tamara searches for her missing son. Determined to uncover the truth, she hires an escaped prisoner, Brayuk. His methods are cruel, but Tamara is determined to find her son, whatever the cost.
About the BIFFF: On April 9-21, the 42nd edition of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival took place in the capital of Belgium. Established in 1983, the festival showcases a diverse range of genre movies. Over its 42-year history, the BIFFF has screened more than 4,000 films, averaging about 100 feature films per year.