{{Short description|2013 film}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox film | name = Harmony Lessons | image = Harmony Lessons poster.jpg | caption = Film poster | director = Emir Baigazin | producer = Anna Katchko | writer = Emir Baigazin | starring = Timur Aidarbekov | cinematography = Aziz Zhambakiyev | editing = | distributor = | released = {{Film date|2013|2|14|Berlin|df=yes}} | runtime = 120 minutes | country = Kazakhstan<br/>Germany | language = Kazakh<br/>Russian | budget = }}
'''''Harmony Lessons''''' ({{langx|kk|Асланның сабақтары}}, ''Aslannyñ sabaqtary''; {{langx|ru|Уроки гармонии}}) is a 2013 Kazakh-German drama film directed by Emir Baigazin. It was awarded a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for camera work at the Berlinale in 2013.
==Plot== ''Harmony Lessons'' is set in a small Kazakhstan village, where Aslan, a thirteen-year-old boy living with his grandmother is a diligent student, bullied by an older boy Bolat and his gang connected with adult criminals and prisoners. The plot concerns Aslan's humiliations, and slow revenge.
==Cast== The cast includes:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/harmony-lessons/cast-crew#cast|title=Harmony Lessons - The Hollywood Reporter|website=The Hollywood Reporter |publisher=|access-date=3 September 2016}}</ref> * Timur Aidarbekov as Aslan * Aslan Anarbayev as Bolat * Mukhtar Andassov as Mirsain * Anelya Adilbekova as Akzhan * Omar Adilov as Mad * Adlet Anarbekov as Takhir * Daulet Anarbekov as Damir * Nursultan Nurbergenov as Maksat * Nurdaulet Orazymbetov as Daniyar * Erasyl Nurzhakyp as Arsen * Assan Kirkabakov as Shikan * Ramazan Sultanbek as Gani
==Production== ''Harmony Lessons'' won the World Cinema Fund Prize in January 2013, becoming first Kazakhstan's project to be supported by the Fund.<ref>{{cite web | title=Kazakhstan's Emir Baygazin movie got Berlinale World Cinema Fund prize | website=Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan | date=18 January 2013 | url=http://www.kazakhembus.com/in_the_news/kazakhstans-emir-baygazin-movie-got-berlinale-world-cinema-fund-prize | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514205442/http://www.kazakhembus.com/in_the_news/kazakhstans-emir-baygazin-movie-got-berlinale-world-cinema-fund-prize | archive-date=14 May 2013 | url-status=dead | access-date=25 September 2022}}</ref>
==Release and Accolades== The film premiered in competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in 2013<ref name="Berlin">{{Cite web|url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/alle/Alle-Detail_16724.html |title=Berlinale 2013: Competition Now Complete |access-date=24 January 2013 |work=berlinale}}</ref> where Aziz Zhambakiyev was awarded for a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for camera work.<ref name="BerlinPrizes">{{Cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/das_festival/preise_und_juries/preise_internationale_jury/index.html |title=Prizes of the International Jury |access-date=16 February 2013 |work=berlinale |archive-date=16 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061216015908/http://www.berlinale.de/en/das_festival/preise_und_juries/preise_internationale_jury/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The film was also screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.<ref>{{cite web | title=Harmony Lessons - 2013 Tribeca Film Festival | website=Tribeca | date=7 April 2013 | url=http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/513a83d3c07f5d47130003b6-harmony-lessons | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107145003/http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/513a83d3c07f5d47130003b6-harmony-lessons | archive-date=7 November 2013 | url-status=unfit | access-date=25 September 2022}}</ref>
Baygazin was nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing for ''Harmony Lessons''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiapacificscreenacademy.com/the-awards/nominees-2013/|title=Winners & Nominees 2013|work=asiapacificscreenacademy.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131220023947/http://www.asiapacificscreenacademy.com/the-awards/nominees-2013/|archive-date=2013-12-20}}</ref>
==Critical reception== The film has garnered critical acclaim since its release, consistently receiving praise for its directing, writing, acting, music and cinematography.
Critic Lee Marshall from ''Screen Daily'' in his review praised director Baigazin for his direction and script saying "Perhaps the most compelling and original aspect of the film is its dual nature as revenge thriller and magical-realist-tinged rite of passage. That the two strands manage to coexist, most of the time, without undermining each other, is tribute to Baigazin’s finely-tuned script." And went on to also praise the film's cinematography and production design, writing "Shot in a series of carefully composed, fixed-camera shots, with cinematographer and production designer bringing out the pastels and half-tones of landscape and school buildings, Harmony Lessons is as dense with symbols and narrative sideshows as a Kazakh pilaf."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/harmony-lessons/5052052.article|title=Harmony Lessons|first=Lee|last=Marshall|date=14 February 2013|website=Variety|access-date=28 October 2025}}</ref>
Critic Davis Rooney of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote a glowing review where he compared the film to the works of director Gus Van Sant, saying "Grimly poetic, formally disciplined and psychologically gripping, this is a legitimate discovery." And he went on to praise both the acting ("The director gets effective performances out of his non-professional young cast... In the central role, Aidarbekov is especially compelling, keeping his feelings tightly contained aside from a brief explosion in a fantasy shaped by one of his earlier experiments.") and music ("Eschewing non-source music, he establishes a hypnotic rhythm that maintains the drama’s oneiric dimension even through some of its more turbulent developments.") of the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/harmony-lessons-berlin-review-421622/|title='Harmony Lessons': Berlin Review|first=David|last=Rooney|date=14 February 2013|website=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=28 October 2025}}</ref>
In Kristin Tillotson's positive review for the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'' she wrote that "Baigazin's pacing, restraint and eye for depicting both internal and geographic desolation add up to a transfixing tragedy."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harmony_lessons_2013/reviews|title=Harmony Lessons Reviews Rotten Tomatoes|first=Kristin|last=Tillotson|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=28 October 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|2385101|Harmony Lessons}}
{{Emir Baigazin}}
Category:2013 films Category:2013 drama films Category:Kazakh-language films Category:Russian-language drama films Category:Kazakhstani drama films Category:2013 German films Category:German drama films Category:Films directed by Emir Baigazin Category:Films about bullying Category:Films about school violence Category:Films that won the Outstanding Artistic Contribution Silver Bear Category:2010s Kazakhstani films