Cast & crew

Capital

2010
55m

YOUR RATING

Â“WeÂ’re all newcomers here. Where we come from there are no jobs, here there are,Â” says a young boy recently arrived in Astana to find work building KazakhstanÂ’s utopian capital city. The film begins as the city prepares to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Zhan and Tilgen are building the cityÂ’s newest monument, a marble column topped by a 9-ton golden bird. Across the street is a towering glass and steel Pyramid where Asel and Alia guide visitors on a tour of AstanaÂ’s future. Like most in Astana, their lives are spent in service of the PresidentÂ’s vision of Astana as a city that will propel Kazakhstan onto the world stage.

As the anniversary nears, the global financial crisis hits, leaving the future of KazakhstanÂ’s dream city uncertain. Â“Without credit, there is no construction,Â” Tilgen says, looking down from his window onto another worksite that has been frozen indefinitely. Nearby, Asel turns down her boyfriendÂ’s marriage proposal. Â“When I tell the girls back home that IÂ’m dating a guy from Astana, they assume heÂ’s rich.Â” /Capital/ is the story of a city caught between an official vision of the future and the reality of life on utopia's outskirts.

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News Documentary History

When Kazakhstan moved its capital to Astana, a provincial town surrounded by endless steppe became a futuristic metropolis. In Capital, stories of the city's residents intersect against the ... Read allWhen Kazakhstan moved its capital to Astana, a provincial town surrounded by endless steppe became a futuristic metropolis. In Capital, stories of the city's residents intersect against the backdrop of the city's tenth anniversary celebration. Cranes stretch as far as the eye can... Read allWhen Kazakhstan moved its capital to Astana, a provincial town surrounded by endless steppe became a futuristic metropolis. In Capital, stories of the city's residents intersect against the backdrop of the city's tenth anniversary celebration. Cranes stretch as far as the eye can see while fear over the financial crisis spreads and Astana's first generation faces the ... Read all