In 1967 — half a century ago — four students of the then Almaty Polytechnic Institute, now Satbayev National Technical University,
Dossym Suleyev, Murat Kusainov, Kamit Sanbayev, and Alexander Litvinov, decided to form a band.  Inspired by the Beatles, whose music spread through the iron curtain without the group actually crossing the borders, Dos-Mukasan reinvented the sound of Kazakh folk music. They fused it with rock, initially dubbed by the Soviet cultural authorities a “product of decaying Western culture.”

Every wedding, gathering and household was done with their songs playing.  At the height of their popularity in the 1970s in Kazakhstan, the
band also performed in Germany, Hungary, Poland, and France and toured the United States. It was when Stalin’s formula of the “prosperity of national cultures in form and socialist in content” was replaced by Khrushchev’s new formula of “prosperity and rapprochement of nations.” Rapprochement, however, was more about forging a Soviet citizen identity, rather than promoting the cultures and languages of each republic in the Soviet Union.

It was a time of limited political and cultural liberalization that followed the overthrow of the Stalinist cult. The 1960s were imbued with the spirit
of romance and creativity. It was a time of passion for music, painting, poetry, and art, and a time when Western influence was allowed to penetrate the Soviet cultural space.

DOS MUKAZAN, Aidyn Sakhaman

KZ, 123', 2022, VO KZ RU ST EN

Synopsis :  Kazakh songs have a distinctive sound that warms people’s hearts. The songs of Dos-Mukasan, a famous Kazakh rock and pop music group from the 1970s, have that effect every time you listen to one of their songs. Understanding the band’s artistic journey requires understanding the political landscape in which Dos-Mukasan was performing. The film does an excellent job of bringing together two generations, wholly different yet so familiar, a generation of young people and their parents. But for both, the story resonates in different ways.

Curated by Kazakh Embassy