The 5th Voices of Friends: Poetry & Art festival transformed the popular Kazakh resort of Burabay into a key cultural hotspot in Eurasia. From November 29 to December 2, the festival brought together more than 70 authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and intellectuals from 20 countries, serving as a platform for international dialogue and creative exchange.
Initiated by the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) in 2021, this festival has become a bridge between cultures.
The festival opened on November 29 with the announcement of the winners of the Cinema Future youth film festival, which recognized young directors from Kazakhstan, the United States, South Korea, and the UAE.
Cinema Future Awards:
Special Prize “For the Relevance of the Idea and its Creative Embodiment”:
– The Shadow Part of Our Personality – created by children from the Novaya (New) Private Intellectual School, Almaty (Kazakhstan)
– Colorful, directed by Polia Ilariya Kozino (USA)
Winners:
Best Screenplay: The Not So Artificial Andersen – directed by Denis Solonovich (USA)
Best Cinematography: Spring, Me and You – directed by Jang Hanna (South Korea)
Best Actor: Time Traveler – actor Lee Sojung, directed by Kim Sia (South Korea)
Best Director/Best Film (11-15 years): Second Chance – India Anne Mitchell (USA)
Best Film (16-22 years): Between Generation – directed by Park Seong June (South Korea)
Best Film (16-22 years), second nomination: Kabutar – directed by Shakhinabonu Azimova, Albina Akhmadeyeva (Uzbekistan)
Best Film of the Festival: Tropical Fish – directed by Shirley Xie (China).
The Burabay International Short Film Festival (BISFF) opened on November 30 with its key event. Films of finalists from Russia, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Germany, China, the USA, Tunisia, and Argentina were screened.
The jury awarded the best works in the following categories:
Best Documentary Film: Lost Planetarium – Sophie Dia Pegrum (USA)
Best Music Video: Lila Katze – Josua Graf (Germany)
Best Screenplay: Review – Jonathan Zarantonello (USA)
Best Short Film: Cellar – Dmitry Pasichnyuk (Russia)
Best Social Issue Drama: Hatred – Almas Kaisar (Kazakhstan).
A special guest of the festival was TURKSOY Secretary General Sultan Raev, who presented Marat Akhmedjanov, founder of ECG (London), with a medal for his contribution to promoting the culture of the Turkic peoples. Sultan Raev himself was also awarded the Jonathan Fryer Medal for outstanding achievements in promoting the culture of the peoples of Eurasian countries internationally.
The festival included a presentation of books from Hertfordshire Press that were published in 2025 or will be published before the yearend.
Among the authors of the books were winners of the Open Eurasia 2024 competition:
– “Slavic Shakherzade” by Anna Garib (UK/Ukraine), winner of the grant for the best book in the Prose category;
– “Fairy Tales for Children” in Russian and English by Elena Makarova (Uzbekistan), winner of the Maria Shevel Prize for the best children’s book;
– “Mom, I Love You” by Tatyana Linchik (Russia), which won a Eurasian Creative Guild grant as the best work in the “Non-Fiction” category.
Other books from the publishing house were also presented:
– “Layers of the Heart,” a poetry collection in English, Tajik, and Persian by Ganjina Shamsullo (Tajikistan/UK);
– Two book series by Gulchekhra-begim Makhmudova (Uzbekistan): “Flask of the Crystal Hookah,” a series of adventure detective novels about the treasures of the Great Silk Road for adults, and “Adventures of the Spirit of Time: Legends of the Great Silk Road,” a series of fairy tales for children;
– “Socio-Economic Formations and Associated Markets,” in Russian and English by Boris Guberman (Israel), which presents the author’s views on the global economic agenda;
– The novel “Naked Nimbus” in English as an eBook by Shahsanem Murray (Kyrgyzstan/Scotland);
– A collection of poetry by Uyghur poets, “Imprisoned Souls,” in English;
– A collection of poetry, “Storm Door,” in English by Gulniza Toychieva (Kyrgyzstan);
– The second volume of Timur Akhmedjanov’s charity graphic novel “Ilish and the Braided Story,” dedicated to children with autism, translated into Russian by Ksenia Moskalenko.
Hertfordshire Press presented its traditional print projects developed in partnership with ECG (London):
– Voices of Friends: Poetry & Art Almanac 2026, dedicated to the 180th anniversary of Kazakh thinker Abai Kunanbayev and the 110th anniversary of artist and collector Igor Savitsky;
– The Great Steppe Treasury Art Catalogue, Vol. 3 (to be published in 2026), featuring works by contemporary Eurasian artists and distributed to leading London art galleries;
– The short fiction collection “Thread,” Vol. 9 (to be published in 2026), featuring works by contemporary writers from various countries in Russian.
The ECG (London) 10th Anniversary Medal was awarded for the first time, recognizing Guild members who have supported its initiatives from the very beginning over these years. The recipients included Dilyara Lindsay (Kazakhstan), Azim Akmatov (Kyrgyzstan), Elena Bosler-Guseva (Kyrgyzstan), Raza Sayed (UK), Elena Korneeva (Russia), Marsel Salimov (Bashkortostan), Timur Akhmedjanov (Uzbekistan/UK), and Bubaysha Arstynbekova (Kyrgyzstan).
The results of the 2026 ECG (London) governing body elections were presented to festival participants. British actress Francesca Mepham was elected Chairperson of the Guild, and Saltanat Khamzeyeva (Kazakhstan) has become the Guild’s Vice Chairperson.
