On August 4, 2015 at the George Washington University, the Kazakh Research Institute of Culture supported by the Embassy of Kazakhstan to the USA held the premiere screening of the two-part documentary film «Dasht-I-Kipchak: Secret Signs» within celebration of the 550th Anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate.
The first part of the film is dedicated to the history of the Kipchak language development - ancestor of a significant number of Turkic languages - that was used by all people living on the territory from the Altai Mountains to the Danube River 700 years ago. It was also spoken in Egypt where the Kipchaks ruled for some time headed by Sultan Baybars.
The second part of the film is dedicated to a unique book "Codex Cumanicus" (translated as the Book of the Kipchaks) presented by a prominent poet of the Age of Renaissance Francesco Petrarca to the Venice library in 1362, now it is stored in the Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice. Codex Cumanicus is a famous written source of the Kuman language (ancient Kipchak) of the 16th century that has good materials not only for philologists, but for historians as well. Kazinform has learnt from the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan.
The event, which gathered more than 100 representatives of social, cultural and academic circles, has attracted much interest among American public.
«I keep a close eye on evolution of this project and hugely impressed by the results. I wish to congratulate all Kazakh friends on Kazakh khanate's 550th anniversary. I love to study ancient manuscripts. It's close to my heart. The same things we do in Smithsonian museums», - Paul Taylor, the Director of the Asian Cultural History Program at the Smithsonian Institution, said.
Marlene Laruelle, professor of the George Washington University noted that she is «very impressed by the quality of the documentary film presented the history of Kazakhstan. The film is an obvious result of «Preservation of cultural heritage» state programme in terms of which a great many historical facts had been collected».
«These films dealing with Kazakh khanate's 550th anniversary are vital for Kazakh people and the whole world. Kazakhstan plays an important role connecting Europe and Asia and revivifying Great Silk Road», - Raymond Chavez, an American producer, representative of the GPC.
The film was written and directed by Bakhyt Kairbekov, an expert of Kazakh documentary films, President of the Shaken Aimanov «Kazakhfilm» JSC and produced by Andrey Khazbulatov, the Director of the Kazakh Research Institute.
Making a speech before screening the film, A.Khazbulatov told the history of its production and a general idea of the project. Within the project it is planned to show 10 films telling about state-building of Kazakhstan from ancient times till now. The project concept is based on the book of the President Nursultan Nazarbayev «In the Flow of History».
The premiere screening of the first film of the «Dasht-I-Kipchak: Secret Signs» project has been in Washington, it will also be presented in New York on August 10 this year.
WASHINGTON. KAZINFORM, 07.08.2015
