Premiering July 19, 2022 on MHz Choice!

In this acclaimed film noir starring Daniar Alshinov and Dinara Baktybaeva, a series of murders exposes deep corruption in a remote Kazakh community.

Conceived as a Kazakh version of a French noir, A Dark, Dark Man starts with the murder of a small boy and is set in a bleak yet artfully framed landscape of beauty – rural and dusty rather than urban and gritty. The protagonist is Bekzat (Daniar Alshinov), a young policeman who is already a jaded and cynical accomplice to the corruption all around him. His slow-motion awakening to confronting the corrupt system is inspired almost against his will by the sudden appearance of an outside journalist, Ariana (Dinara Baktybaeva). Bekzat’s pursuit of the real murderer is flawed and in his jagged zigzag towards justice, he encounters plenty of blood and wrongdoing along the way.

The film does purposely depart from its darker noir tone with an ‘80s-inspired soundtrack and is genuinely funny at times – evoking the work of Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki as well as early Jim Jarmusch. Writer/director Adikhan Yerzhanov has explained that “in my films, humor helps to neutralize landmines.”

Presented here in three roughly 40-minute long installments, A Dark, Dark Man won critical plaudits around the world, with Variety calling it “a staggeringly controlled, slow-burn scorcher of a crime thriller” and “brilliant, diamond-hard film noir.” Don’t miss it!