Nazarbaev Wants More 'Patriotic' Films

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev says he wants films about working for the homeland.

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev on March 14 called on the country's filmmakers to produce more "patriotic movies."

Too many domestic and foreign films, the country's only post-Soviet president said, center on an individual's problems and "we wish" they would show more about society.

Nazarbaev had just completed a screening of the film "For the Sake of the Future," a story reportedly based on the lives of several members of the pro-government youth group Bolashak.

Nazarbaev said foreign films "seldom show the quest for knowledge, genuine friendship, true love, supporting one another, or simply the desire to work for the country, for the homeland."

Bolashak members in Almaty meanwhile focused their activities on March 14 on targeting films they consider offensive, holding a public burning of pornographic DVDs they said were available at local bazaars.

The group said it took matters into its own hands after previously alerting the country's prime minister and prosecutor general about the sale of "Kazakh pornography" and seeing that no action was taken.

Bolashak said vendors at bazaars now recognize them and quickly pack up their wares if they are selling such DVDs.

Bolashak said they intend to continue to carry out raids to stop the sale of such films.
With Interfax and segodnya.kz reporting