Kazakhstan has submitted fourteen films in the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film category since gaining its independence from the USSR in 1991. In 2008, Kazakhstan received its first-ever Oscar nomination, for the epic Genghis Khan biography, Mongol. Kazakhstan shocked many Oscar prognosticators when the obscure Kelin was shortlisted in 2010 over better-known films for Italy, Korea, Norway and others. Ultimately, Kelin failed to reach the final five. Kazakhstan is so far the only Central Asian country to be nominated for an Academy Award. Submissions The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956. Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Kazakhstan for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony. Kazakhstan's first three submissions were epic historical dramas, showcasing key moments in pre-Soviet Central Asian history. The Fall of Otrar and Mongol take place in the 13th century, while Nomad is set in the 17th century. The Fall of Otrar was produced by Kazakhfilm studio while Kazakhstan was still a part of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan gained its independence in December 1991 and submitted the film in Fall 1992 to compete for the 1993 Academy Awards. The film is a violent 3-hour drama, shot mostly in black and white with occasional bursts of color, about political intrigue in the city of Otrar immediately before Genghis Khan's invasion. Although the Kazakh film industry continued to produce a number of small, independent films that achieved success at international film festivals (including The Killer, Shiza and Little Men), Kazakhstan did not submit any other films for consideration until 14 years later. Kazakhstan rejoined the Oscar race in 2006 and 2007 with two new, big-budget action movies, (Nomad and Mongol) both directed by Sergei Bodrov, an ethnic Russian and dual-citizen of both Russia and Kazakhstan. Nomad, the most expensive film ever made in Kazakhstan, was bankrolled by the Kazakh government and told the story of the young Ablai Khan, who would eventually unite a number of Kazakh tribes on the steppes of 18th century Kazakhstan. Bodrov replaced French director Ivan Passer as director of Nomad early in filming. Mongol was a lavish biography of the famed Mongolian leader Genghis Khan, from his childhood as a slave until