AI Realism – Qantar 2022

Forum Special 2026

Qantar, 2022. Almagul Menlibayeva’s film catapults us back to January 2022. Just weeks before Russian troops invade Ukraine, 20,000 citizens protest in Kazakhstan against the rise in liquefied gas prices. Pent-up anger is evident in the protests, which are quickly denounced as terrorism and brutally suppressed. Russian troops, among others, nervously intervene in the situation “_calm your people_ / _we can help you_”. Menlibayeva is not there. Friends write to her on social media and she follows reports in the press. She enters these voices and texts into the generative AI models that are new in 2022, which expose disturbing images of post-Soviet power structures. The still imperfect AI reveals what it will conceal in the future. A requiem, an appeal to let no more time pass unused.

Trailer/Film Excerpt

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by Almagul Menlibayeva (Director, Screenplay) Kazakhstan 2022 English, Kazakh, Russian 24' Colour

Crew

Director	Almagul Menlibayeva
Screenplay	Almagul Menlibayeva
Editing	Almagul Menlibayeva
Music	(OMFO) German Popov
Sound Design	(OMFO) German Popov
Production Design	Almagul Menlibayeva
Animation	Almagul Menlibayeva
Co-Producer	Almagul Menlibayeva

Co-produced by

Tselinny Center for Contemporary Culture

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Almagul Menlibayeva

Almaty, Kazakhstan

World Sales

Aisha

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Almagul Menlibayeva

Almagul Menlibayeva was born in 1969 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and is a contemporary artist and curator. She works mainly with multi-channel video, photography and multimedia installations. Her work has been exhibited internationally at various biennials and triennials, as well as in galleries and museums. She was awarded the top prize at Kino der Kunst in Munich and the L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Ministry of Culture. She lives between Germany and Kazakhstan.

Filmography

2002 Eternal Bride; short film 2003 Steppen Baroque; short film 2007 Headcharge; short film 2009 Exodus; short film 2010 Milk for Lambs; short film 2012 Kurchatov 22; short film 2016 Tokamak; short film 2020 Ulugh Beg: Intrinsic Futuristic Machine of Central Asia; short film 2022 AI Realism – Qantar 2022; short film 2023 Nomadizing Water: Lines/Nets vs Blocks; short film · The Tongue and Hunger. Stalin’s Silk Road

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026