Schizo

Set in the sun-blasted countryside of Kazakhstan, Guka Omarova's austere, visually striking debut trails 15-year-old schizophrenic Mustafa (Nussuppaev) as he haunts the fringes of an illegal bare-knuckle fighting circuit with his mother's gangster boyfriend. Aided by Hasanbek Kydyraliyev's indelible photography, Omarova exhibits a painterly eye for barren prairies and incongruous architecture, as well as a documentarian's attention to mundane detail (weathered faces, indigenous food, a boiling kettle) and the odd rhythms of cash-hungry Kazakh life