The first Mari International Ethnic Film Festival is underway in Yoshkar-Ola, Russia, bringing together filmmakers from CIS countries, Asia, and Europe. Among the feature films in the competitive program is the joint Uzbek-Turkmen production Magtymguly Fragi, directed by Muzaffarkhan Erkinov.
THP reports that around 30 films are being screened at the festival, which is dedicated to the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia, alongside masterclasses and creative events. Competing films are vying for the inaugural Open Eurasian Film Award “Diamond Butterfly,” established at the initiative of Nikita Mikhalkov and supported by the Russian Cultural Foundation and Russia’s Ministry of Culture.
Turkmenistan’s cinema has already made its mark at this award: in late 2025, production designer Meylis Khudaiberenov of the Oguzhan Turkmenfilm Studio received the prize in the Best Production Designer category for the film The Composer. /// nCa, 19 June 2026