The favorite of the whole country - "Genghis-Khan" Eduard Ondar, has just returned for a week's trip to Kazakhstan. He shared some good news - he is now confirmed for the role of the leader of Dzungarian army in a film by a prominent Kazakh director Akhan (Akan) Satayev.
Our compatriot went to the final confirmation for the role and to sign the contract. He is pleased with the way the things worked out: he got to know the film team better, found a common language with the director, which is very important for the work, and has started to "immerse" himself in the role.
And for that, he has to study…Old Dzungarian language; it is complicated - he will have to act in it.
The team is now in Mongolia, in Ulan-Bator, and is constantly in touch with the famous Tuvan actor, who will join them in April. Eduard will be filmed throughout the summer. By the end of this year, they should be able to finish the historical epic.
The film does not have an exact working title yet, but there are hints - "Tysyacha malchikov" (A thousand boys).
There will be a web-site for the project. It is a large-scale historical drama about events of 18th century, the war between the Kazakhs and the Dzungarians. As Eduard Ondar expressed it, he plays the main bad guy. It is planned to spend about 7 million dollars on the film; the costumes will be authentic for that epoch, and the horses, which they ordered practically from Australia, and battles with bloodshed. The movie is being made on government order, which means that there is support by the leaders of the country.
Just a note about the director: Akhan Satayev was born in 1971 in Karaganda. He received his education in the cinema and TV section of Kazakh National Academy of Arts. He filmed as an actor. He is the author of the thriller "Zabludivshiysya" (The lost one), 2007 with Andrei Merzlikin, which was on the long-list last year for American Oscar. The film received the Kazakh national prize "Kulager-2009" in cinematography as the best entertainment film. In 2010 the director filmed a war movie "Liquidator", with Kazakh and Russian actors, and one Englishman.
Akhan Satayev saw Eduard Ondar for the first time in Canada in 2009, at the World Festival in Montreal, where Andrei Borisov's film "By the will of Genghis Khan" was successfully presented. He could not forget our countryman. At that time, the director and the actor did not meet in person, but, as you can see, the history continues.