This publication is a documentary work that details the process of creating the first feature film directed by Kyrgyz filmmaker Tölömüş Okeyev. The author of the book is his daughter, Aziza Okeyeva.
The book contains rare archival photographs, unique storyboards, as well as previously unpublished materials and memories of people who participated in the making of the film. It thoroughly reveals the complex creative journey of the film — from the initial idea to its premiere on screens.
"The Sky of Our Childhood" is a Soviet feature film created by Tölömüş Okeyev at the Kyrgyzfilm studio in 1966. The plot tells the story of a boy who comes to spend his summer vacation with his parents at a mountain pasture from the city where he studies and lives with his older sister. The aging parents, especially the father, want to keep their son in the nomadic lifestyle, as the older children have already moved to the city. Who will take care of them in their old age and continue the legacy of the patriarchal family?
The film received numerous awards, including international ones. In 1968, the creative team was awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Kyrgyzstan in the field of literature and art, with the laureates being director and screenwriter T. Okeyev, screenwriter K. Omurkulov, and cameraman K. Kydyraliev.
Director Tölömüş Okeyev was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Kyrgyzstan and received an Honorary Diploma at the IV International Film Festival in Frankfurt am Main in 1969 in Germany. He also became a prizewinner at the VI Festival of the Central Asian Republics and Kazakhstan held in Dushanbe in 1969.
Okeyev's work was recognized with a Diploma for Best Directorial Debut and a prize from the magazine "IK" in 1969, as well as a diploma at the first Tashkent International Film Festival of Asian and African countries. In 1968, he was awarded a Special Prize and a debut prize at the All-Union Film Festival in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg).
