picking a film because of its country of origin usually doesn't turn out well. but it worked out pretty well with tulpan (imdb). i've only seen a handful of central asian films, but aside from mongol, the ones i have seen all have that slow pacing and deliberate lingering scenes that i associate with iranian cinema. i really like those films, but they're clearly not for everyone.
but if you don't mind the pacing, tulpan is both a lot of fun and beautiful on the screen. i don't know if the latter is to the credit of the cinematographer, or if its just that the central asian steppe is so visually striking it's going to look great no matter who is behind the camera. with the big sky as a backdrop, tulpan is basically a comedy about asa, a young kazakh who dreams of getting married and getting his own yurt and flock of sheep. he can only get a flock (and yurt) if he gets married. so he sets his sights on tulpan, who seems to be the only unmarried woman his age anywhere near him on the vast steppe. maybe "sights" is the wrong word. in the process you get a remarkable look at asa and his family's way of life, a traditional nomadic style with little hints of the modern world beyond the horizon. plus, it's got this incredibly graphic sheep childbirth scene. actually, two of them. how can anyone resist that?
the NYT happened to review this film the other day. its review is here.
