The Light Thief

lightning thief

Harris Theater: May 8 @ 7:30PM
Melwood Screening Room: May 12 @ 6:00PM

Passes not accepted on Opening/Closing Night. Please arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of start time to ensure availability of seating. Film schedule and Q & A's are subject to change.

2010/Kyrgyzstan/ Director: Aktan Arym Kubat/80 min
Cast: Aktan Arym Kubat, Taalaikan Abazova, Askat Sulaimanov, Asan Amanov
Language: Kyrgyz
Festivals and Awards: Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2010 & Locarno International Film Festival 2010
They call him Mr. Light.
Little-known Kyrgyzstan is at the forefront of this beautiful and poetic story of an electrician in a remote, impoverished village in the Kyrgyz Mountains. His kind spirit brings light to those around him when physical and personal darkness seem all encompassing.
Svet-ake (Mr. Light), played by the director, is the flame that draws in the villagers and gives them the warmth and clarity they need as they battle short-circuiting electricity, short-circuiting marriages, short-circuiting morals and the will to live on. Shying away from nothing, stealing from the state for the benefit of the poor, his ubiquitous presence helps everyone. He represents a working people who, despite economic devastation, have not lost the most beautiful of human abilities: to love, to suffer, and to share and enjoy what they have, even if it isn’t much.
The Light Thief takes place in early 2005, during the Tulip Revolution that overthrew the government. Mr. Light, father of four daughters, has two dreams: to have a son and to bring cheap, wind-powered energy to the valley. He is a resistance against the madness of a country in the midst of a revolution, battling power and tradition-destroying progress. Bekzat, a young tycoon, returns to his native village to buy land and work with shady Chinese investors. Gaining the trust of Svet-ake, the electrician faces the potential death of his village’s centuries-old traditions as the result of his work.
Traditional Kyrgyz music and endless breathtaking mountainous landscapes complement the beauty, pride and desolation of its people. They may be cut off from the rest of the world, but they are perceptively aware of their position in society as corruption grips their small home.
“The Light Thief is co-presented by the Global Film Initiative and is part of the Global Lens 2011 film series. For more information, visit www.globalfilm.org.”