Pusan shines spotlight on Kazakh filmmakers

The Pusan International Film Festival is shining the spotlight on Kazakh cinema.

One of Asia's leading movie festivals opened Thursday with Kazakh director's Rustem Abdrashev's "The Gift to Stalin," a touching story about a young Jewish boy exiled to Kazakhstan as part of the forced migrations of ethnic minorities during Soviet rule in 1949.

Another film from Kazakhstan, "Turmoil," is competing in the festival's New Currents competition.

Organizers announced earlier that the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award will go to Kazakh producer Gulnara Sarsenova.

Kazakh cinema has a strong tradition from the country's …