The Gift

A seven-year-old girl believes that a mole on her lip is a gift from God and will make all her wishes come true, even her dream to become the son her father has never had...

Dalmira is a film director, screenwriter and poet and has more than 20 years’ experience of working in film and literature. After completing a post graduate film course in Moscow she made numerous documentaries and short films in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

Her first feature film Under Heaven has been screened at many international film festivals in Canada, USA, Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Turkey, India, Sri-Lanka etc. The film has won several awards and prizes. In 2015, at the Montreal World Film Festival, it received a Special Jury mention for best feature film debut and at the Bengaluru International Film Festival, won the Grand-Prix as well as the NETPAC prize. At the New York International Film Festival the film won the Jury prize, whilst in Yakutsk (Russia) it won the award for Best Actor.

Dalmira's poems and stories have been translated into Chinese, English, Finnish, Azerbaijan, Korean and other languages. In addition, she is a member of NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema), the Director’s Guild of Russia and the Union of Filmmakers in Kyrgyzstan.

She graduated: 1. Kyrgyz National University in Bishkek (Philology faculty); 2. High Courses for Filmmakers and Scriptwriters in Moscow; 3. New York Film Academy (Producing class) in Los Angeles