
Kenenbai Kozhabekov
Acting
Biography
He was born on March 3, 1928, in the village of Aksengir. He graduated from the acting department of the Almaty Theater and Arts College in 1950. In 1949, he made his film debut with the role of the Chukchi Ayye in the movie Alitet Leaves for the Mountains, directed by Mark Donskoy. Donskoy had also selected other future prominent actors, including Nurmukhan Zhanturin (who played the role of Tumatughe) and Gulfayrus Ismailova. From 1950 to 1967, he performed on the stage of the Kazakh Theater for Young Audiences (Kazakh TЮZ). From 1958, he was an actor at the Kazakhfilm studio, where a documentary film about him, The Return of Kenenbay, was made in 1975. In the late 1960s, during a fight with bandits, he sustained a severe injury and became disabled. For the rest of his life, Kozhabekov was confined to a wheelchair, but he continued to act, mainly in episodic roles and those where walking was not required. The film The Wolf's Pit highlighted his acting skills, even though he was confined to a wheelchair.
Known For

Kyz-Zhibek - Kazakh poetic folk legend of the 16th century, tells about the period in the Kazakh nation when the people suffered from bloody feuds. In those times each province of the Kazakh nation had its own Khan and each tried to supersede the other. The love story of Tolegen, the brave warrior, and the beauty Zhibek ends tragically because of inter-family strife. Tolegen is foully murdered by Bekejan (the batyr, or nobleman, of the rival family), who earlier strived for the hand of Zhibek. Zhibek commits suicide after learning about the death of Tolegen.
Lady Zhibek

The second part of a historical film dilogy based on the story “Emshan” by Maurice Simashko. XIII century. Equal to God, Sultan Beybars — the ruler of Egypt, who has the largest fleet in the Mediterranean, crushed the Crusader troops and countless hordes of Genghis Khan's descendant – recalls the life path he passed before ascending to the throne of the ruler.
Sultan Beybars

A historical drama set during the 1929 construction of the Turkestan–Siberian Railway, contrasting modernization with traditional life in the Kazakh steppe.
Turksib

Near the city of Verny, surrounded by Cossack patrols, the paths of three friends diverge. Instead of his native aul, Nartai finds only ruins. The death of his mother, the disappearance of his fiancée, and the oppression from the stanitsa ataman — all this forces Nartai to join the revolutionary struggle. Hunger and poverty, and pleas for bread greet the blacksmith Azim in his native Zhetysu. A Cossack horse kills Azim’s little son with a kick of its hoof when the boy reaches for scattered grains of bread. Grief turns the blacksmith into the leader of a starving, rebellious crowd. The fate of the third soldier is not easy either. Pavel Zernov, pausing only briefly at the bedside of his dying little son, hastens to rejoin his comrades who have gone underground.
We Are From Semirechye

The film tells about the life and work of the famous singer of the Kazakh people akyn Dzhambul Dzhabayev.
Zhambyl

A comedy about Krushchev's 'Virgin Lands' project, to transform the barren and inhospitable spaces of the vast Soviet Union into fertile agricultural plains. A classically Socialist-Realist narrative of an individual's 're-education'. Zhenia, a hapless idler, arrives with a band of enthusiastic young Konsomol members to build a new town in the steppe. Although his dream, like that of all the young participants, is 'to become a tractor driver and a hero', he isn't prepared to work for the honour.
An Unquiet Spring

About a group of schoolchildren from a Kazakh aul who swore to one another that they would win the inter-collective farm sports competition.
Hey You, the Cowboys!

The inhabitants of Chukotka are shown to be cruelly exploited before the revolution. Once Chukotka is visited by the representative of the Kamchatka Revolutionary Committee, Los, and the ethnographer Zhukov. The news of the arrival of the Russians immediately disperses along the coast. Contrary to the pressure of the American Thomson and the local "oligarch" Alitet in Chukotka, fair trade laws are established, as a result of which the Americans and Alitet leave Chukotka.
Alitet Leaves for the Hills

Old shepherd Serkebai seeks a second lambing from his flock, but kolkhoz chairman Aisary, citing lack of pasture and water, urges slaughtering the sheep. Defying him, Serkebai leads the flock across the Syr Darya into the Kyzyl Kum desert with several kolkhoz workers and his daughter Marzhan. After days without finding a well, Serkebai gives leadership to Kundebai and departs alone to die in the sands, followed by the sheep. Searching for her father, Marzhan meets hydrogeologists drilling an artesian well, where she falls in love with geologist Imash. The team rescues Serkebai’s group, and water bursts from the well, forming a lake to which the entire kolkhoz soon relocates.
If Each of Us

A single woman, Nesibeli, raises her son and daughter without a husband. Despite the hardships, she remains cheerful, kind, and always ready to help others, which helps her overcome life’s challenges.
Nesibeli

The son of an old shepherd got married, and the young daughter-in-law Saltanat entered the family with love and tenderness. She immediately fell in love with the parents of her husband Tastan, and she surrounded him with female care. And for her husband's brother, the girl became a true friend. The family honors traditions, does not consider them a relic of the past and believes in unity with their ancestors. How Saltanat's life will develop further - see the film Keep Your Star.
Keep Your Star

Aidar and Galiya have long been in love with each other. Aidar works as a horse breeder, and Galiya is a senior herdswoman at a collective farm stud farm. One day, due to an accidental misunderstanding, the young people quarrel. Angarbay, the store manager, who is also in love with Galiya, is trying to take advantage of this.
Dzhigit Girl

The film is about the heroic struggle of the Kazakh people against the hordes of bloodthirsty Dzungars and the victory over the Dzungars (XVIII century).
The Messengers Hurry

No description available.
One Night

A rich young man follows the events of their wake of a dark sky before. And now however, it began with a bad smell like revenge.
Trizna

The film takes place in 1926 on the southern borders of Kazakhstan. An OGPU search detachment, led by an experienced commander Kasymov, is tasked with neutralizing a gang of Basmachi who have secretly crossed the border.
The Last Crossing

This is a story of the noble emotions shared by two lovers.
A Parable of Love

The film is dedicated to the life of a modern village, raises current problems of agriculture.
It's Time for Ringing Heat

Samat is an orphan, and he strikes up a friendship with Musa, who is wheelchair bound due to illness. Little does he know Musa has ties to the criminal world.
Wolf Trap

A story about a funny boy named Kozha who always gets into troubles.