The First Teacher

The First Teacher (Первый учитель) is a 1965 drama film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. It is his first full-length work, made after book by Chingiz Aitmatov.

Plot
The action takes place in the years from 1924 all the way to the early 1950s in the Kurkureu village of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic, which is now Kyrgyzstan.

The Russian Civil War ended not so long ago. Young Komsomol member and a former Red Army soldier Dyuyshen comes to the village as the new teacher of the village. His enthusiasm to bring new ideas immediately faces a centuries-old tradition of life in Central Asia. The former soldier tries to improve literacy to this far Moslem area while villagers didn't allow gỉrls to attend school. He then met Altynai, a 15-year-old illiterate girl who has a burning desire to study, but her aunt sells her to a powerful and wealthy chieftain. Then school is burned down. The film ends with the promise of it being rebuilt using a centuries-old tree which had been a source of pride to the local population.

Cast

 * Bolot Beyshenaliyev as The school teacher Dyuyshen
 * Natalya Arinbasarova as Altynay
 * Idris Nogajbayev as Narmagambet
 * Darkul Kuyukova as Koltynay
 * Kirey Zharkimbayev as Kartynbay

Prizes and awards

 * Silver medal and Volpi Cup for Best Actress to Venice Film Festival (1966) - Natalia Arinbasarova
 * Jussi Award for Best Foreign Director, Finland, 1973