A program of 11 screenings, including classics from India and Taiwan, contemporary festival films, and a restored version of The Fall of Otrar.

The history of Tselinny is complex and uneven, like the history of any place of cultural attraction that appeared in the USSR and has come a long way to the present day. Festivals, box office hits, a “third place” for children and teenagers. Privatization, redesign, a series of successful and not-so-successful businesses. Finally, resale and rethinking of this space as necessary for the cultural environment of the city.

The program “Histories of Tselinny” is based on the very history of the center's film distribution. It is conceived not as a historical study, but rather as a reflection on the theme — an imaginary story based on the fragments of real historical facts. From each period of the cinema's history, we take something noteworthy and immerse it in a broad sociological, film studies, and cultural context in which the films are relevant to Tselinny.

Dr. Gulnara Abikeyeva is a film critic, Doctor of Arts, and an author of twelve books about the cinema. She has served as a jury member at international film festivals in Berlin, Karlovy Vary, Oberhausen, Busan, and others. She is a member of the film critic associations FIPRESCI and NETPAC, as well as the Asia Pacific Screen Academy (APSA). In 2016, she was awarded the French government's Order of Arts and Letters, and in 2021, the Kazakh Order of Kurmet. 

Part I: 20 November – 13 December (Thursday–Saturday, 7-9 p.m.) 
Part II: 17 January – 8 February (Saturday–Sunday, 7-9 p.m.) 

The first part of the course explores the Kazakh cinema of the Soviet era: how it reflected cultural and political processes became a tool of power, yet also created the environment for self-expression. The second part focuses on the cinema of independent Kazakhstan, from The Needle and the Kazakh New Wave to new names and phenomena in the cinema, including commercial cinema and the emergence of a female voice in directing.‍ 

Interdisciplinary performance and installations 
Artists: Gulnur Mukazhanova, Dariya Temirkhan, qazaq indie, SAMRATTAMA 
Dariya Temirkhan (b. 2000, Oral, Kazakhstan), an artist creating digital and physical collages, sound art and video art. In her arts, Dariya discusses the phenomenon of urban life against a regular life of auls and small towns. The decentralisation of culture and art in Kazakhstan is a topical issue to her. 

This video depicts various types of dragons. They move through a water-like space, gathering for an important assembly. This aquatic realm represents another world — one that lies between reality and dream. The audio used in the video features sounds recorded on the banks of the Yaik River. 
The dragons protect the defenseless and give strength to the powerless. 

The HORIZON Anthology (since 2021) is an online collection of research and critical texts, video and multimedia works (including video essays and interactive timelines). The authors are contemporary artists, curators, academics, etc. A new issue comes out every autumn. The anthology is part of HORIZON, an online research platform of the Tselinny Center for Contemporary Art on the history and theory of Central Asia.