With the assistance of support from EHCN, CASI, in coordination with the Center for Civic Engagement and the Film department at AUCA, we staged a documentary workshop in Bishkek from the 8th through 14th of September. The workshop also partnered with the Un/Filmed School, a project run out of Reel Works, a non-profit in NY that stages workshops in cooperation with the Russian and East European Institute at Indiana University. The event allowed aspiring Kyrgyz filmmakers to interact with Russian-speaking Un/Filmed graduates and to learn from each other while working in teams, exchanging ideas, and building a community of young documentary professionals. The resulting workshop was a highly practical course with around the clock production/editing, storytelling exercises, group brainstorming and discussions as well as individual consultations with experts in documentary film.

Un/Filmed instructors Victor Ilyukhin, Askold Kurov and Renato Serrano, all of whom are also accomplished filmmakers, led masterclasses on storytelling trends, working with characters in documentaries, and navigating from concept to distribution. There was also a series of creative tasks meant to reinforce practical and creative aspects of documentary filmmaking. Logline development, interviews, and structural planning exercises supported participants in working on their films, while tasks such as "Three Objects" and "Reflected Action" helped participants explore creative approaches to storytelling. Participants worked in pairs to shoot and edit short documentaries and received one-on-one feedback and technical guidance from mentors during the editing phase. Nurzhamal Karamoldoeva, a respected filmmaker at AUCA and the head of the Center for Civic Engagement, identified local filmmakers to act as mentors and provide instruction and lectures on Kyrgyz documentary film. Her participation made the workshop a showcase of Kyrgyz cinematic expertise.

The participants completed six short films by the end of the workshop on the 14th of September, with each showcasing diverse perspectives and creative styles.