We are thrilled to present this year’s Institute of Documentary Film Award at Sunny Side of the Doc to the project A Satellite for Buru Laï by Antonin Lechat and Suium Sulaimanova, produced by Fanny Glissant. The award grants an invitation to the East Doc Platform 2025.
Our long-standing collaboration with Sunny Side of the Doc gives us access to outstanding projects each year, fostering future cooperation. Through the IDF Award, we invite the winning project to participate in the East Doc Platform 2025 in Prague. This platform offers valuable opportunities for market meetings, allowing creators to connect with potential partners, broadcasters, and distributors, thus expanding the reach and impact of their projects. This year, we have selected a project from the New Voices pitch.
We are committed to supporting projects that confront pressing societal issues and drive meaningful change. A Satellite for Buru Laï shines a light on the urgent issue of bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan, where a woman is abducted for marriage every 40 minutes. This story exemplifies an extraordinary and contemporary approach to challenging outdated patriarchal principles. We believe in the power of this narrative to inspire and mobilize audiences worldwide.
We congratulate Antonin Lechat, Suium Sulaimanova, and producer Fanny Glissant on their outstanding work and look forward to their continued success and impact.
A Satellite for Buru Laï (dir. Antonin Lechat, Suium Sulaimanova, prod. Fanny Glissant, FR, CH, 90')
Synopsis
In May 2018, 19-year-old Burulai Turdaaly Kyzy was murdered in a Bishkek police station by the man who had tried to kidnap her. Determined to fight for the voice of Kyrgyz women, Jibek set up a crazy project: to build Kyrgyzstan's very first satellite. To achieve this, she has joined forces with a group of high school and university students aged between 17 and 28. The group, known as PSK (Kyrgyz Space Program), runs awareness-raising workshops for secondary school pupils and travels around the country to meet women who have been kidnapped. By combining a feminist struggle with an innovative technological project, they aim to break down the clichés ingrained in their society and offer new perspectives to their generation. They have chosen to call this satellite Burulai.
