“Art of Victory” - A boy who delighted the world with his dutar

The movie entitled ‘The Son’ premiered in 1989. Sergey Bodrov Senior and Khalmamed Kakabaev were co-writers of the script. The movie had a big success both in Turkmenistan and other countries.

It tells the story of a boy named Batyr his teenage period was during wartime. Batyr’s father was a well-known dutar (dutar - national musical instrument) player in their village, who died in the war. Batyr decided to learn to play his father’s dutar no matter what it takes.

The movie was shot in a Turkmen village, and faraway Lithuania, Moscow, and Moscow countryside. It boasted an international cast and brought together famous actors from across the Soviet Union. Uzbek actress Tamara Shakirova, as the mother of young bagshi (bagshi - singer of Turkmen national songs). Anzhelika Mashtakova from Moscow played the role of a Gypsy woman.

After the movie premiered in Turkmenistan, the cast and crew went on a foreign tour. They presented ‘The Son’ at the International Children Film Festival in India and Sakhysalikh Bayramov, who played Batyr, won the “Golden Elephant Award”. Also, the film had presentations in Italy, Iran, and Egypt. At the Cairo International Film Festival, the top prize - "Golden Pyramid Award" went to ‘The Son’.