Funded by
Sunday
An elderly Uzbek couple live as they have always done: shearing their sheep, milking their goats, growing watermelons, weaving carpets. The old woman never lets anyone leave the house without a gift and gently attends to her curmudgeonly husband. His habitually simmering ill humour reaches boiling point when their two adult sons – one who lives nearby, one far away – start replacing their household goods with new-fangled ones they can’t operate. Their next plan is to pull down and replace the family home, whatever their parents say. This story of generational division and hurt unfolds with the slow rhythm of the changing seasons. Shot entirely within their home, with the steppes only occasionally seen in the distance, it has the concentrated force of a poem.
Best Screenplay Award at the 15th Baku International Film Festival
Grand Prize Award at the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival
Third Best Film of the Asian Cinema Competition at the 15th Bengaluru International Film Festival
Jury Award at the Univerciné Nantes Film Festival
Critics Jury Award and Audience Award for Fiction Film at the 30th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
Best Director and Best Script at the 4th Oltin Humo Film Awards
Best Director at the 11th Bastau International Film Festival
Best Director and NETPAC Best Asian Film Award at the 28th International Film Festival of Kerala
Best Director Award at the 3d Red Sea Film Festival
Jury Special Mention at the 1st Alternativa Film Awards
Best Film International Competition Award at the 1st Bishkek International Film Festival
Best Film at the 15th Tashkent International Film Festival
Best Film Asian New Talent Award at the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival
Director :
Shokir Kholikov
Scriptwriter :
Shokir Kholikov
Photography:
Diyor Ismatov
Editing :
Shokir Kholikov
Sound by :
Anvar Fayz
Producer
Firdavs Abdukholikov, Akrom Shakhnazarov
Cast
Abdurakhmon Yusufaliev, Roza Piyazova
Trailer:
Shokir Kholikov holds a master’s degree in Filmmaking and Television from the National Institute of Arts and Culture of Uzbekistan, which he completed in 2023. His short films and documentaries have been selected and awarded at numerous festivals. In 2021, he had the opportunity to study at the prestigious New York Film Academy, further honing his filmmaking skills.
His first feature film, Sunday, won the Asian New Talent Award for Best Film at the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival. Kholikov is currently developing his second feature film, continuing his exploration of deep social issues. This project will focus on the experiences of Central Asian labor migrants in Russia, a highly relevant and globally resonant topic.
With a career on the rise, Shokir Kholikov is emerging as a vital voice in Central Asian cinema, known for telling powerful, universal stories that reflect the human condition and socio-political realities.
Filmography :
2016 : The Don't Understand Us (short)
2017 : Dilemma (short)
2018 : Tea (short)
2020 : World Virus
2020 : Human Nature (short)
2021 : Messi (short)
2021 : Girl and Cloud
2022 : Life Without Spring
2023 : Sunday