The popular Kazakh film, ‘My name is Kozha,’ by director Abdulla Karsakbayev has been dubbed in English. The feature film was presented in the United Kingdom to introduce foreign audiences to masterpieces of the Kazakh cinema. The idea of dubbing the film in English emerged after an invitation to the Romford Film Festival in London, organizers say. Teachers of international schools in Almaty were involved in the project. They all have acting experience.

‘17 people helped to dub. A teacher did the voice-over for the teacher in the film and children dubbed the children in the movie. 70-80% of voice actors were British. So you can hear a British accent,’ Maira Karsakbayeva, the distributor told Kazakh TV.

The British public enjoyed the feature film about 12-year-old Kozha, whose story was based on the novel by Berdibek Sokpakbayev. The spectators were able to learn about the life of a young boy, a pioneer in the Soviet Union. After the film screening, the audience had the opportunity to meet with dubbing actors.

‘It was interesting to see the film especially because it was made shortly after I was born. I was born in 1962. So it was interesting to see that time in a different country, totally different from my life. It was interesting because we have a character from a book called ‘Just William’ and he is a very similar child and he was very mischievous,’ one of the spectators, Julie Taylor said after watching the film.  

The distributors are planning to take the picture to retro festivals in English-speaking countries. In addition, the movie will be screened in the cinemas of Nur-Sultan and Almaty.