Synopsis
Zhaksylyk (2019) is a Kazakh biographical drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Gafu Kairbekov.
The film follows Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov — a Greco-Roman wrestler from Soviet Kazakhstan who stepped onto the mat at the 1980 Moscow Olympics in the 52 kg category and came away with gold. Before that peak: childhood on the Kazakh steppe, years in Soviet training halls, and a world championship. After it: a long coaching career in the Kazakh SSR, passing the same discipline on to the next generation.
Ushkempirov was later named a Hero of Labor of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a title that reflects a career measured in decades rather than a single final. Kairbekov's film is as much about the Soviet Central Asian sporting system — hard work, collective grind, no shortcuts — as it is about one man. Stream Zhaksylyk (2019) online on iFILM.
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