What Have You Done, Zarina?
Directed by
Camila Sagyntkan
Kazakhstan 2025 27 MIN
Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Zarina discovers that she is pregnant and desperately wants to end the pregnancy before anyone finds out. Confiding only in her closest friend, she searches for a solution while hiding her fear from a family she believes will never understand. Each attempt to escape the situation pulls her further into isolation, shame, and silence, forcing a teenager to carry decisions and consequences far beyond her age.
Camila Sagyntkan
Camila Sagyntkan is a Kazakh director and writer from Almaty. A law graduate, she worked for several years across more than a hundred film projects as an assistant director, producer, and script supervisor before moving into directing. Her debut short, Happy Independence Day, was shortlisted for the Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe programme and screened at numerous international festivals. What Have You Done, Zarina?, her second short film, won Best Film in the Short Film Competition at the Torino Film Festival.
Credits
- Director
- Camila Sagyntkan
- Screenplay
- Camila Sagyntkan
- Cinematography
- Aigul Nurbulatova
- Editing
- Alimzhan Shiyapov, Camila Sagyntkan
- Music
- RYSO-1694 / Sultanali Kongyratbay
- Sound Design
- Aleksandr Khimich
- Cast
- Yenlik Kozyke, Tomiris Agadilova, Akzhol Primbetov, Saule Zhaksylykkyzy, Zhumagali Makhanov, Aylin Sultangazina, Faiza Akhmetova, Suleiman Stepchenko, Aisulu Kuangan
- Producers
- Yerkebulan Kurishbayev, Yevgeniya Moreva, Gregory Bagaev, Camila Sagyntkan (QARA Studios, Eleven Thirty PM, K. Sagyntkan)