SASYQ

After several failed suicide attempts, Sadyk Ospanovich, once a university professor and now a drifter, spots a UFO in the sky. From it emerges an alien — a mysterious being with a cone-shaped head, wrinkled skin, and sad golden eyes. Together with Nadya, who runs a roadside kiosk, and her granddaughter, Sadyk becomes the family the alien never had.

In Yerden Telemissov’s debut film, seemingly ordinary things take on a fairy-tale dimension: a wooden outhouse becomes a shelter for the alien, a shabby little shop a perfect date spot, and a TV set an oracle. The story unfolds in a very recognizable reality — corrupt police and officials, stark social inequality, COVID, and bitter poverty — yet filtered through the lens of comedy and infused with a generous dose of optimism and hope.

Like Spielberg’s E.T. — and yet entirely its own — SASYQ balances between family fun and sci-fi fantasy, carrying the message: the “other” is not a threat but a potential friend and ally.

Text: Ksenia Reutova

Sun 09.11. I 20:00 I GLAD-HOUSE I original version with English subtitles + simultaneous German translation