Amulanga Kishteeva, an actress at the B. Basangov National Drama Theater in Elista, received Best Supporting Actress at the second Tochigi International Film Festival in Japan. The festival ran September 19-22, 2026, and results were announced September 22.
She was honored for the short film "Zayan," an independent student debut by director Saglar Ochirova from Oleg Dorman's screenwriting workshop at the Moscow School of New Cinema. The film was shot in 2025 on a working livestock farm in Kalmykia and follows family life on the steppe.
RIA Kalmykia said organizers received 217 submissions, showed 110 works, and placed "Zayan" among eight shorts in the competition program. The screening was September 20, 2026, in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture. Local coverage framed the prize as international recognition for a Kalmyk-language story about steppe family life.