by Nathan Taubkin
Uzbek Cinema in Conversation with the Third Cinema Movement
Uzbekistan’s film industry is underrepresented on the world stage, despite having a rich history of filmmaking. In the context of operating under a post-Soviet colonialist society, Uzbek Cinema reflects many core values of the Third Cinema movement.
History of Uzbek Cinema:
Uzbek cinema can be separated into four distinct stages: pre-soviet ethnography, Stalinist propaganda, Uzbek new wave, and post-soviet state cinema. The first filmmaking forays in Uzbekistan were of an ethnographic nature. Khudaibergen Divanov, the father of Uzbekistan documentary, shot his first film “Architectural Monuments of Our Region” in 1913. His work is some of the only surviving footage of early 20th century Central Asia.11https://web.archive.org/web/20130603113435/http://www.sanat.orexca.com/rus/archive/4-09/boris_golender.shtml While Uzbek filmmakers were active in the early 1920’s, the founding of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR) in 1924 created a new market for talented Uzbek filmmakers. Although the Soviet regime ran a repressive propaganda machine, funds were plenty in this time for filmmakers which allowed Uzbek directors and actors to make high production quality films.
Early Soviet Cinema aimed to convert the majority Muslim population to secularism and homogenization. While there were plenty anti-Muslim films, filmmakers like Suleiman Khojaev produced pieces that confused and muddled the Soviet doctrine, in an act of counter-propaganda. Khojaev’s film Before Dawn (1934), is described as “a historical reconstruction of the anti-colonial revolts of 1916 in Central Asia, a key event in the history of the first national liberations of the region.”22https://www.3continents.com/fr/film/avant-laurore/ Due to the themes of uprising and revolution, this film was censored and ultimately led to the director being sent to a Stalin death camp. During the Stalin Purges, very few films were developed.
During the 60’s, as the Soviet’s grip on censorship began to loosen after Joseph Stalin’s death, filmmakers and journalists were allowed to push the boundaries in their media practice. The satirical newsreel Nashtar/Scalpel was produced, using satire to take jabs at the shortcomings of the Soviet system.33https://web.archive.org/web/20220129213240/http://www.uzbekkino-ussr.asia/kinozhurnal-nashtar.html In this clip from Nashtar, (and from what I can glean from the Uzbek to Russian to English autogenerated captions), it is commenting on high prices and shortage of food. This change in tact ushered in the Uzbek New Wave. With a longer leash, exciting themes and techniques were explored and started to create an Uzbek film identity. The most popular genre for the Uzbek population, then and now, is comedy. Comedy films like Maftuningman (1958) used hybrid techniques, using real people as actors playing themselves. Comedy and animation techniques were explored, like in the stop motion The White Camel (1974). Another through-line across the history of Uzbek cinema is the use of fantastical and supernatural elements. 1991’s Abdulladzhan, or Dedicated to Steven Spielberg, directed by Zulfikar Musakov tells a story of an alien boy who crash lands his UFO into a Soviet farm, and immediately the town’s fortunes improve. However, at the end of the movie he suddenly leaves, expressing he will come back once he is more accepted. While at its core the film is a Communist propaganda piece, it also acknowledges a dimming of Soviet power (the Soviet Union would dissolve later that year), and also the aspect of globalization with the overt reference to Spielberg’s E.T.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Uzbek film industry took a step back. While allowed more freedoms, all of the previous production infrastructure and funding were no longer available. This led filmmakers to cheaper modes of filmmaking that were more accessible, but less artful. Despite this, some filmmakers were able to push through these barriers and create groundbreaking work. Voiz/Orator (1998) is a fairytale comedy about an Uzbek man forced to be a spokesperson for the Communist party after the Russian Revolution. A more contemporary example includes Issiq non/Hot Bread (2018), which is a drama that explores girlhood in Uzbekistan. This film was Uzbekistan’s first submission to the Academy Awards.
History of production in Uzbekistan:
The first production company in Uzbekistan was called Uzbekfilm, founded in 1925. Headquartered in the capital of Tashkent, this was the main source of Soviet-led Uzbek projects. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the newly formed Uzbekistan government bought the production company and has controlled it ever since. In conjunction with the state’s cinematography unit Uzbekkino, films are funded and produced with help from the government. Due to being a majority Islamic society, topics like violence and sex are considered taboo and censored by the government. Production grew as the country did, and many state-funded films are produced every year.
In an extremely male dominated space, Kamara Kamalova is arguably the most important female figure in Uzbek cinema, with a career spanning from 1966 to today, exploring animation, narrative, and documentary mediums. She also has her own production company and operates outside the government funded distribution space. “The state supports nationalistic films[…]so, here I made a film that was purely Uzbek based on Uzbek culture and traditions,” when asked about her film The Road Under the Skies. [4]
Dikar poster, directed by Kamara Kamalova
Third Cinema comparisons:
Uzbek films have employed the tactics of Third Cinema, though more covertly than the original movements in South America. Because these filmmakers operated almost exclusively within the Soviet or state-run film industry, they relied on satire, comedy, and fantasy speak to their audiences, rather than the more inflammatory militant and combative styles. This can be seen in some of the earlier examples like Nashtar and Before Dawn. In modern day Uzbekistan, nearly all media consumption is Uzbek, where, at one point, 99% of distributed films were produced domestically. [5] This gives filmmakers a direct line to their country and a growing responsibility with what they choose to do with that power.
Within the last decade, following the death of authoritarian president Islam Karimov, Uzbek artists have been granted more freedom. This has allowed filmmakers, especially documentarians, to cover more serious cultural issues using the expository mode. Michael Borodin’s Cotton 100% details the nation’s cotton production, and the ongoing forced labor that drives the industry. The following year Borodin released a narrative feature titled Produkty 24 (Convenience Store). This film shows the effects of forced labor on a young, pregnant, Uzbek migrant worker. Both of these films did well in festivals inside and outside of Central Asia. Since Uzbekistan is still building its national identity, these films are important as to push for change within the country before these conditions become more ingrained.
Another theme of Third Cinema that is also present in independent Uzbek film is the importance of protecting nature and land from colonialism. Class films like Terra em Transe, Island of Flowers, and The Tiniest Place all show how native inhabitants care for their land despite capitalist forces attempting to corrupt them. While many Uzbek films use a mix of deserts, mountains, and rivers as merely a backdrop, Saodat Ismailova’s multi-channel video piece Stains of Oxus centers the environment to tell the stories of the native and working class populations.
Distribution:
While distribution options are more limited in Central Asia than they are in the West, Uzbekistan has a flourishing film industry that satisfies their own population with hopes to reach other eyes.
1. The Uzbekkino YouTube page is a great way to find Uzbek films. In addition to their own material that they produce, they publish Uzbek films from the Soviet-era onwards for free.
2. 139 Documentary Center is located in Tashkent. Founded by Timur Karpov (who has a cinematography and writing credit for the 100% Cotton documentary) showcases photography, documentaries, and mixed media installations. [6]
3. The historic Tashkent Film Festival.4. Kinoshok is a film festival dedicated for countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CSI). However, the program is only updated to 2023, but no other indication that the festival is defunct.
5. The Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs funds films that highlight Central Asian culture and stories. They recently produced and distributed the documentary Oqlanmagan/The Unexonerated (2024) that uncovers the stories of unjustly imprisoned Muslims during the Karimov era.
6. Many Uzbek filmmakers that do not want to rely on government funding team with production companies from nearby nations such as Russia, China, Japan, EU, or even their direct neighbors in Kazakhstan. This has allowed for more stories to reach an Uzbek audience that would have not been possible independently. Some examples of successful co-productions include the Uzbek/Japanese film Oyijon (2001) and the Uzbek/German Chilla/40 Days of Silence (2014). The Eurasian Film Market is an annual event that helps facilitate these partnerships. [7]
[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20130603113435/http://www.sanat.orexca.com/rus/archive/4-09/boris_golender.shtml [2] https://www.3continents.com/fr/film/avant-laurore/ [3] https://web.archive.org/web/20220129213240/http://www.uzbekkino-ussr.asia/kinozhurnal-nashtar.html [4] https://archive.org/details/cinemasofotherpe0000donm_n8p6/page/128/mode/2up?q=uzbek [5] https://archive.org/details/cinemasofotherpe0000donm_n8p6/page/8/mode/2up?q=uzbek [6] https://www.new-east-archive.org/features/show/11615/139-gallery-uzbekistan-first-documentary-photography-timur-karpov [7] https://www.eurasianfilmmarket.com/en/about/eurasian_film_market/ Other helpful sources (urls): https://www.jstor.org/stable/41105365 https://areeltrip.com/films-from-uzbekistan/