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Cinema of Uzbekistan

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The history ofUzbek cinemacan be divided into two periods: the cinema ofSoviet Uzbekistan(1924–1991) and the cinema of independentUzbekistan(1991–present).

History[edit]

A Cinematographic Department was created in 1920 in what was then theTurkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic,and in 1924 the first film studios were created inBukharaas a cooperative enterprise between the Sevzapkino studio in Russia and the Commissariat of Enlightenment of theBukharan People's Soviet Republic.Bukhkino, as a Russo-Bukharan cinematographic society, was also founded in 1924 and produced the first feature film in present-day Uzbekistan,The Minaret of Deathby Viacheslav Viskovskii (1925), an exotic-themed film that was successful throughout the Soviet Union and was even exported abroad. Later, Bukhkino merged into Uzbekgoskino (Uzbekfilm) inTashkent,which originally produced mostly Soviet anti-religious propaganda targetingIslamduring theUSSR anti-religious campaign (1928–1941).[1]

Films of the Soviet period were shot either inRussianorUzbek.The most critically acclaimed films of the Soviet period include films such asMaftuningman(1958),Mahallada duv-duv gap(1960), andShum bola(1977).[2]

Two prominent directors in the Soviet era were Nabi Ganiev (1904–1952) and Suleiman Khodjaev (1892–1937). While Ganiev, the first Uzbek director whose movies starred a majority of Uzbek actors (in previous films, most actors were Russian), engaged in Stalinist propaganda through his movies, and survived the purges, Khodjaev became a victim of Stalin's repression. His movieBefore Dawn(1933) was ostensibly a criticism ofTsarist Russia,but depicting it as a colonial power, and the Uzbeks who opposed it as anti-colonialfreedom fighters,made the authorities suspicious that Khodjaev was alluding to theSoviet Union.In 1937,The Oathby Aleksandr Ulos’stev-Garf was the firsttalking filmproduced in Uzebekistan. It also marked the end of an era as, during theGreat Purge,very few new films were produced.[3]

Uzbekfilm(Uzbek:O‘zbekfilm, Ўзбекфильм), established in 1925, is the largest and oldest film studio inUzbekistan.[4]TheUzbekistan State Institute of Arts and CultureinTashkentis the major film school.[5][6]

Few Uzbek films after Uzbekistan became independent have achieved international notability. According to some Russian film critics around 2009, many of the modern Uzbek movies were cheap and of low quality.[7][8]They suggested that while the quantity of Uzbek films is going up, the quality was not.[7]However, there have been several critically acclaimed films in recent years, such asScorpion(2018),Hot Bread(2019), and2000 Songs of Farida(2020).I’m not a terrorist(2021),Sunday(2023).[9]

With the appointment ofFirdavs Abdukhalikovas general director of Uzbekkino in 2019,[10]radical reforms in the cinematography of Uzbekistan were launched. In 2020, about 200 well-known filmmakers of the republic, includingAli KhamraevandKamara Kamalova,published an open appeal in which they called on all representatives of the industry to unite in solving the problems of national cinema and support the ongoing reforms.[citation needed]In April 2021, President of UzbekistanShavkat Mirziyoyevactually launched the reforms by signing Decree “On measures to raise the cinematic arts and film industry to a qualitatively new level and further improve the system of state support for the industry”. According to the decree, the National Agency "Uzbekkino" was renamed the Cinematography Agency of Uzbekistan, the House of Cinema was reconstructed, and the annualTashkent International Film Festivalwas established, which became the successor to the International Film Festival of Asia, Africa and Latin America and was held in Tashkent in the fall of 2021 year for the first time after a 24-year break.[11]

Uzbekistani film directors[edit]

Uzbekistan film actors[edit]

Main article:List of Uzbekistani film actors

Uzbekistani actors and actresses include:

List of Uzbekistan films[edit]

Main article:List of Uzbekistan films

The following are selected critically acclaimed Uzbek films:

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Cloé Drieu, "Cinema, Local Power and the Central State: Agencies in Early Anti-Religious Propaganda in Uzbekistan,"Die Welt des Islams50 (2010), 532-563.
  2. ^Cloé Drieu,Cinema, Nation, and Empire in Uzbekistan, 1919-1937,Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2019.
  3. ^Drieu (2019).
  4. ^A. M. Prokhorov, ed. (1974). "Uzbekfilm".Great Soviet Encyclopedia(in Russian) (3rd ed.).Moscow:Soviet Encyclopedia.
  5. ^Brisbane, Katherine;Chaturvedi, Ravi;Majumdar, Ramendu;et al., eds. (2005).The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre.Vol. 5: Asia/Pacific.Routledge.p. 573.
  6. ^"About the institute".UzSIAC - The Uzbekistan State Institute of Arts and Culture.2 September 2020.Retrieved19 December2020.
  7. ^abSaidazimova, Gulnoza (19 March 2013)."Uzbekistan: In All Movie Theaters".Fergananews(in Russian).Retrieved18 April2013.
  8. ^Musayev, Rashid (26 December 2009)."Uzbek Cinema is Reviving".Central Asia Online(in Russian).Retrieved18 April2013.
  9. ^Frater, Patrick (16 June 2023)."Uzbekistan Title 'Sunday' Claims Asian New Talent Prize at Shanghai Film Festival".Variety.Retrieved4 December2023.
  10. ^"Firdavs Abduxoliqov" O'zbekkino "ga direktor bo'ldi".Xabar.9 December 2019.
  11. ^"PF-6202-сон 07.04.2021. Kino san'ati va sanoatini yangi bosqichga olib chiqish, sohani davlat tomonidan qo'llab-quvvatlash tizimini yanada takomillashtirish to'g'risida".lex.uz.Retrieved4 December2023.
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