Gulnara Sarsenova

Gulnara Sarsenova (Kazakh: Gülnar Bolatqyzy Särsenova, born August 6, 1961) is a Kazakhstani film producer who has produced several award-winning films. She is the only Central Asian producer to receive the Best Asian Filmmaker award at Busan International Film Festival, one of the most significant film festivals in Asia, in 2008. She graduated from Kazakh State University in Almaty, majoring in journalism. She completed training courses at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. She received additional vocational education at the University of Phoenix in the United States. During 16 years she successfully worked in business structures. Gulnara is the founder of deluxe merchandise network Fantsuzskiy Dom ("French House") in Kazakhstan. She is also a founder of a popular newspaper Novaya Volna ("New Wave") and the Revue magazine. The subject of her PhD thesis is the aesthetics of youth television shows. In 2005 she founded her own production company Eurasia Film Production. She was awarded a French Bonaparte medal and a diploma of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the achievement in business.

In 2008 Gulnara Sarsenova has received the international Asian Film Maker of the Year award at Pusan International Film Festival and the same year she was nominated for Oscar award with her film "Mongol" directed by Sergey Bodrov Sr. In 2005 and 2008 she was the organizer and general director for Eurasia International Film Festival and in 2010 she was the general director of the 2nd Kazakhstani-American Film Festival held in Almaty.