Organised by Barbican Centre
Set in the outskirts of the fictional rural village in Kazakhstan, Assault is an absurdist, chilling look at the maddening hopelessness of living in a corrupted society.
When an anonymous group of masked gunmen storms a rural school and local authorities prove useless, an unlikely rescue squad takes matters into their own hands.
World-weary maths teacher Tazshy, skilfully embodied by Azamat Nigmanov, and his determined ex-wife Lena (Aleksandra Ravenko) lead the self-organised rescue team. They give themselves 36 hours to prepare an attack but, as is often in Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s films their inadequacy and self-obsession prove to be the real obstacle.
This screening is followed by a ScreenTalk with film critic and journalist Assiya Issemberdiyeva and film critic Savina Petkova.
Please note: Yerzhanov’s film may make for particularly challenging viewing following recent events. This film contains some distressing scenes, including a scene where a child is killed and an image depicting the aftermath of a later killing.