# Heaven Is Beneath Mother's Feet
**Heaven Is Beneath Mother's Feet** (Kyrgyz: *Бейиш — эненин таманында*, Beyish - Enenin tamanynda; also released as *Paradise at Mothers' Feet*) is a 2024 Kyrgyz drama directed by Ruslan Akun about a 35-year-old man with an intellectual disability who sets out to take his elderly mother on foot to Mecca so that she can enter Heaven.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/) • [2](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film153725.html) It was Kyrgyzstan's official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *Бейиш — эненин таманында* (Beyish - Enenin tamanynda)[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/) |
| Director and writers | Ruslan Akun; screenplay by Akun and Emil Esenaliev, from an idea by Bolot Tentimyshov[3](https://allofcinema.com/raj-pod-nogami-materej-beyish-enenin-tamanynda-2024/) |
| Country, language, genre | Kyrgyzstan; Kyrgyz; drama, with road movie, religion, and disability themes[2](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film153725.html) |
| Runtime and release | 140 minutes; world premiere 1 March 2024 in Kyrgyzstan, Russian premiere 11 April 2024[2](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film153725.html) • [4](https://www.kino.ru/film/102162) |
| Main cast | Emil Esenaliev (Adil), Anarkul Nazarkulova (Raikhan Apa), Bolot Tentimyshov[2](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film153725.html) |
| Academy Awards | Kyrgyzstan's submission for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards (2025)[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/) |
| Box office | $1,006,050 gross worldwide[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/) |
| IMDb rating | 7.5/10 (about 520 votes)[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Adil (Emil Esenaliev) is a 35-year-old man whose mental development stopped at the level of an 8-year-old child. He lives in a small village with his 75-year-old mother, Raikhan Apa (Anarkul Nazarkulova), who tells him that God loves him in a special way and that he will go straight to Heaven. Adil refuses to go to Paradise without her. When he learns from another 8-year-old boy that taking his mother on foot to the holy city of Mecca would secure her a place in Heaven as well, he decides to make the journey.[2](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film153725.html)
The film follows the pilgrimage across the Kazakh steppe, with Adil pushing his mother in a wheelbarrow over long distances and facing repeated obstacles.[5](https://elcinema.com/en/work/2099803) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/) According to the critic Frank J. Avella, the trek takes the pair from their village through [Uzbekistan](https://www.edgepedia.org/uzbekistan), Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Syria, and finally Saudi Arabia, and he describes the film as a fable requiring suspended disbelief.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paradise_at_mothers_feet)
### Sequel
A sequel, *Heaven Beneath Mothers' Feet 2: A Mother's Letter*, again directed by Ruslan Akun with Emil Esenaliev returning as Adil, follows Adil and his nine-year-old friend Samir on a journey from [Kyrgyzstan](https://www.edgepedia.org/kyrgyzstan) across Russia to Moscow to fulfill the boy's dream.[14](https://new.parkcinema.az/en/movie/698247165246f16fb6bb638a)
## Title and religious background
The title translates a saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic tradition: "your Heaven lies under the feet of your mother," recorded in the collections of Ahmad and Nasai.[7](https://www.iseas.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/TRS2_20.pdf) In the film, this idea becomes the literal premise of the plot: the son's devotion is expressed as a physical journey on foot toward Mecca, the hajj his mother agrees to undertake despite her age.[3](https://allofcinema.com/raj-pod-nogami-materej-beyish-enenin-tamanynda-2024/)
## Production
The film was written and directed by Ruslan Akun, with Emil Esenaliev as co-screenwriter; the idea came from Bolot Tentimyshov, who also appears in the cast as the character Sapat.[3](https://allofcinema.com/raj-pod-nogami-materej-beyish-enenin-tamanynda-2024/) The crew included producer Tugolbay Koychiev, cinematographer Kanybek Kalmatov, composer Yrysbek Usmanov, and production designer Elchibek Shamenov.[8](https://letterboxd.com/film/paradise-at-mothers-feet/) • [9](https://vkaznete.net/film/23) Supporting roles include Abil Sagdiev as Samir, Nurislam Zhukamulov as Turat, and Dilmurat Orozov as an imam.[3](https://allofcinema.com/raj-pod-nogami-materej-beyish-enenin-tamanynda-2024/)
## Release and reception
The film premiered in Kyrgyzstan on 1 March 2024 and opened in Russia on 11 April 2024.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/) • [4](https://www.kino.ru/film/102162) It grossed $1,006,050 worldwide according to IMDb; a Russian film database lists Russian receipts of $1,020,704.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/) • [10](https://filmnavi.ru/2024/peyish-zhumak-ananyn-tabanynyn-astynda) It later received a wide theatrical release in Malaysia on 17 February 2025.[11](https://economist.kg/all/2025/01/24/kyrghyzskii-film-bieiish-enienin-tamanynda-vykhodit-v-prokat-v-malaizii/)
**Festivals and awards.** The film played at a series of international festivals, including the Asian World Film Festival in Los Angeles, the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival in Indonesia, the Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema, and the Indo Dubai International Film Festival.[11](https://economist.kg/all/2025/01/24/kyrghyzskii-film-bieiish-enienin-tamanynda-vykhodit-v-prokat-v-malaizii/) IMDb records one win and two nominations overall, and it was listed among the Best Asian Film candidates at the 2025 Septimius Awards.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/) • [12](https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0036402/2025/1/) Its selection as Kyrgyzstan's Oscar entry brought the country's cinema, which the r/oscarrace discussion described as often hidden from the international spotlight, to wider attention.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/)
**Critical views.** Stephen Saito of *Variety* called it a "sweet but ultimately arduous road movie" in which good intentions lead to not-so-great places.[2](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film153725.html) The film scholar Gulnara Abikeyeva, a specialist in Central Asian cinema writing in the AUCA *KinoKultura* special issue on new Kyrgyz film, read it as a fairy tale with schematic characters and no real conflict, and called it a leading example of Kyrgyz mainstream cinema.[13](https://dspace.auca.kg/bitstream/123456789/2867/1/NEW%20CINEMA%20IN%20KYRGYZSTAN.%20Special%20edition%20of%20Kino%20Kultura.pdf) In the same essay she analyzed how the film carries four identities at once: ethnic (Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Kazakh and others encountered along the route), civil, regional (Central Asian and Turkic), and religious, with Islam uniting the action of the entire film.[13](https://dspace.auca.kg/bitstream/123456789/2867/1/NEW%20CINEMA%20IN%20KYRGYZSTAN.%20Special%20edition%20of%20Kino%20Kultura.pdf)
## References
1. [Heaven is Beneath Mother's Feet (2024), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31940684/)
2. [Heaven is Beneath Mother's Feet (2024), FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film153725.html)
3. [Рай под ногами матерей / Beyish – Enenin tamanynda (2024), AllOfCinema.com](https://allofcinema.com/raj-pod-nogami-materej-beyish-enenin-tamanynda-2024/)
4. [Рай под ногами матерей (2024), KINO.RU](https://www.kino.ru/film/102162)
5. [Heaven Is Beneath Mother's Feet (2024), EL CINEMA](https://elcinema.com/en/work/2099803)
6. [Paradise at Mother's Feet, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paradise_at_mothers_feet)
7. [The Prophet Muhammad said: your Heaven lies under the feet of your mother (Ahmad, Nasai), ISEAS](https://www.iseas.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/TRS2_20.pdf)
8. [Paradise at Mothers' Feet (2024), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/paradise-at-mothers-feet/)
9. [Рай под ногами матерей / Beyish - Enenin tamanynda (2024), Vkaznete](https://vkaznete.net/film/23)
10. [Рай под ногами матерей (2024), Filmnavi](https://filmnavi.ru/2024/peyish-zhumak-ananyn-tabanynyn-astynda)
11. [Кыргызский фильм «Бейиш — эненин таманында» выходит в прокат в Малайзии, Economist.kg](https://economist.kg/all/2025/01/24/kyrghyzskii-film-bieiish-enienin-tamanynda-vykhodit-v-prokat-v-malaizii/)
12. [Septimius Awards (2025), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0036402/2025/1/)
13. [Gulnara Abikeyeva, "Ruslan Akun: Heaven is Beneath Mother's Feet," New Cinema in Kyrgyzstan, KinoKultura special edition, AUCA](https://dspace.auca.kg/bitstream/123456789/2867/1/NEW%20CINEMA%20IN%20KYRGYZSTAN.%20Special%20edition%20of%20Kino%20Kultura.pdf)
14. [Heaven Beneath Mothers' Feet 2: A Mother's Letter, Park Cinema](https://new.parkcinema.az/en/movie/698247165246f16fb6bb638a)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2023 and 2024 › Titles H to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license