An epic retold in Bishkek

A manaschi is a traditional Kyrgyz storyteller who performs the Epic of Manas — a massive Central Asian oral poem. The “standard” poem is about 500,000 lines long (2 to 2½ million words) and committed to memory. I filmed a manaschi in Bishkek, along with traditional instruments like the komuz (a three-stringed, plucked lute) being played, and you can watch and hear this in the video below.