Sadyk Sher-Niyaz

Sadyk Sher-Niyaz was born on March 10, 1969, in the village of Chon-Kapka, Talas oblast, Kyrgyzstan. An ethnic Kyrgyz, Sher-Niyaz is married, the father of three children. At the age of 38 he left Kyrgyzstan to attend film school in Moscow. His first feature film Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains was the Kyrgyz submission to the 87th Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film Category. Sher-Niyaz is the founder of several organizations including, Aitysh Film Studio, Kalemger Literary Club, and Aitysh Public Fund. In 2011 he started International Film Festival "Kyrgyzstan - Land of Short Films." Later in 2011 Sher-Niyaz became the Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers of Kyrgyzstan, and was again re-elected to the position January 2015.