Camila Sagyntkan
Directing
Biography
Camila Sagyntkan is a director and producer from Almaty, Kazakhstan. She holds a law degree, a background that sharpened her perspective on justice, responsibility, and human stories before she turned to filmmaking. She has been working in the film industry since 2018, with experience in more than a hundred projects as a 1AD, producer, and script supervisor. Her directorial and screenwriting debut, “Happy Independence Day”, received several awards and was screened at international festivals, including the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Courts d’un soir, the Go East Film Festival, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and others. In 2025, it was released online through Short of the Week. Camila is a resident of the BaseCamp ’25 at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, a participant of the CAPITÃO Artist Residency in Portugal, the Qyzqaras Critic Lab ’25 in Kazakhstan, and the Script LAB CA ’25 in Kyrgyzstan. She is currently promoting her second short film, “What Have You Done, Zarina?”; developing her third short film, “Brat Summer”; writing her feature-length film, “My Sea, My Waves”; and working on various other projects.
Known For
A fast-forward metaphor for Kazakhstan's path to look for a new identity through the image of a middle-aged man Marat who loses his meaning in life after the death of his love. His dissatisfaction with the new society increases and the fear of remaining unnecessary to anyone scares him. Marat tries to find a new sense of life against all societal, economic, and political changes in the country through work and his son's pride but finds it completely different.
Happy Independence Day
A 15-year-old Zarina wants to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy. However, she ends up caught in a vicious cycle that is more difficult to escape than she thought.