Central Asian Film Resources (Kazakhstan/Qazaqstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)
Being and Becoming, the Cinemas of Asia by ISBN: 0333938208Date: 2002-01-01Contributed articles on cinemas of various Asian countries.
Cinema in Central Asia: Rewriting Cultural Histories by ISBN: 9781845119003Date: 2013-09-30Cinema in Central Asia is the first comprehensive and up-to-date account of the cinema of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan from its origins to the present day. Bringing together specialists from Central Asia, Russia, Europe and the United States, this companion to the cinema of the region combines serious scholarly study with practical accessibility to construct an historical narrative, discuss aspects of film production and consider the impact of film.
Cinema, Nation, and Empire in Uzbekistan, 1919-1937 by ISBN: 9780253037831Date: 2019-01-01Between the founding of Soviet Uzbekistan in 1924 and the Stalinist Terror of the late 1930s, a nationalist cinema emerged in Uzbekistan giving rise to the first wave of national film production and an Uzbek cinematographic elite. In Cinema, Nation, and Empire in Uzbekistan Cloé Drieu uses Uzbek films as a lens to explore the creation of the Soviet State in Central Asia, starting from the collapse of the Russian Empire up through the eve of WWII.
Cinemas of the Other: A Personal Journey with Film-makers from Central Asia by ISBN: 9781841505497Date: 2012-09-15Following an introduction delineating the histories of the film industries of the countries that make up the Middle East and Central Asia--including Iran, Turkey, and the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan--both books contain interviews stretching over a decade, which position the filmmakers and their creative concerns within the social or political context of their respective countries.
Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film by ISBN: 9780415187039Date: 2001-10-12Each chapter covers the history and major issues of film within that area, as well as providing bibliographies of the leading films, directors and actors. The areas covered are: Central Asia, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, The Magreb, Palestine, Turkey.
Film and Identity in Kazakhstan by ISBN: 9781784538385Date: 2018-04-30Cinema and nationalism are two fundamentally modern phenomena, but how have films shaped our understanding of the creation -the 'imagining' - of Central-Asian nations? Here, Rico Isaacs uses cinema as an analytical lens to explore how the Kazakh national identity has been constructed and contested.
Two Epochs of National Self-Determination in Central Asian Cinema by ISBN: 9965279500Date: 2006The texts in this book reflect the influence of the films on the process of nation building in the countries of Central Asia during two epochs of national self-expression and self-determination -- in the 60s and the 90s. ... The collection reveals broad opportunities for comparative analysis of social development of the countries of the region in cultural, social-political way and in historical perspective.
The Cinema of Soviet Kazakhstan 1925-1991 by ISBN: 9781793641748Date: 2021-02-12This monograph traces the history of Kazakh filmmaking from its conception as a Soviet cultural construction project to its peak as fully-fledged national cinema to its eventual re-imagining as an art-house phenomenon. The author's analysis places leading directors-Shaken Aimanov, Abdulla Karsakbaev, Sultan-Akhmet Khodzhikov, Mazhit Begalin-in their sociopolitical and cultural context.
The Zero Hour: Glasnost and Soviet Cinema in Transition by ISBN: 9780691069371Date: 1992-08-02Now faced with the "zero hour" created by a new freedom of expression and the dramatic breakup of the Soviet Union, Soviet cinema has recently become one of the most interesting in the world, aesthetically as well as politically. How have Soviet filmmakers responded to the challenges of glasnost? To answer this question, the American film scholar Andrew Horton and the Soviet critic Michael Brashinsky offer the first book-length study of the rapid changes in Soviet cinema that have been taking place since 1985. The authors argue that the medium that once served the Party became a major catalyst for the deconstruction of socialism, especially through documentary filmmaking. An intriguing discussion of films of Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Kazakhstan ends the work.
- The Kazakh 'New "New" Wave' / by Jane Knox-Voina Studies in Russian & Soviet cinema, 2010, Vol.4 (2), p.195-203
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- "New Wave‖ In Uzbek Cinema Art: Expressiveness in Social Realism" / by Khusanov Sherzod, Tursunmetova Robiya International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology (IJEAT) ISSN: 2249 – 8958, Volume-9 Issue-1, October 2019
- "Spiritual Culture of the Kazakh People in Films" / by Aigul Shaymuratovna Tuyakbayeva & Sharipa Nurymbetovna Urazbayeva Indian journal of science and technology, 2016, Vol.9 (21). The objective of this study is to analyze the spiritual world of the Kazakh people, their traditions, ceremonies and rituals as they are represented in the films of Kazakh directors.
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- "The Gifts of History: Young Kazakh Cinema and the Past" / by Stephen Norris Kinokultura, 2010, Vol.27
- "Electricity within: Islam, pre-Islamic traditions and secular forms of belief in contemporary Kyrgyz cinema" / by Elena Monastireva-Ansdell Studies in Russian & Soviet cinema, 2021, Vol.15 (2), p.153-173
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- "Emergence and Representation of Identity Through Cinema in Kyrgystan After Collapse of Soviet Union" / by Erdoğan Akman, Regina Jamankulova, Niyazi Ayhan Ulakbilge sosyal bilimler Dergisi, 2014, Vol.2 (4). Sada Institute of Art and Language Studies
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- UNESCO - Film industries in Central Asia: a view today and towards the future The overall economic impact, social role and status of cultural professionals involved in the film industries of the Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) remain relatively understudied. However, the film industry is recognized as one of the oldest and most developed cultural and creative industries of the region since the mid 20th century.In this context, this publication assesses the film industries of Central Asia and concerned legislation. It provides recommendations for its future development, international cooperation prospects and ways to improve the status of local culture professionals and creative entrepreneurs working in the cinema sector. It also considers funding mechanisms of cinema industries.
"Memory and Tradition as a Postcolonial Response in the Films of Kyrgyzstan’s Aktan Abdykalykov" in Storytelling in World Cinemas by ISBN: 9780231163378Date: 2013-01-31This chapter argues, via an analysis of Aktan Abdykalykov's films from Kyrgyzstan, that a central theme in postcolonial discourse is the attempt to actively remember and record histories as a way to mediate the rupture in historical and cultural continuity caused by colonialism. Abdykalykov's films are invested in a process of telling and re-telling histories to both mediate the ruptures caused by Russian imperialism and the Soviet collapse, and to construct a national identity on a global as well as a personal scale. His work complicates and questions a Western binary that opposes the traditional and modern by modelling his films on the pattern of a traditional Kyrgyz quilt, which is pieced together from fabrics given out as part of funeral proceedings. Thus Abdykalykov replicates in film the process of making the quilt and creating identity — through remembering, reworking, and piecing together histories.
"A ‘Wild Kazakh Boy’: The Cinema of Rashid Nugmanov" From Cinema in Central Asia by ISBN: 9780755697359Bringing together specialists from Central Asia, Russia, Europe and the United States, this companion to the cinema of the region combines serious scholarly study with practical accessibility to construct an historical narrative, discuss aspects of film production and consider the impact of film. The book also offers a deeper understanding of Central Asian culture that is invaluable with the geopolitical and economic emergence of this exciting region.
- "Lone Wolves at the Door of History" / by Kent Jones Film Comment May-June 2003 Issue
- Kino Kultura: "I Cannot Be Fully Happy… (Interview with Khodzhakuli Narliyev)" It is impossible to imagine Turkmen cinema without Khodzhakuli Narliyev. His filmmaking established all the milestones of Turkmen cinema. He was born in 1937. In 1963, three years after graduating from VGIK, Khodzhakuli Narliyev worked as cinematographer on The Competition (director Bulat Mansurov), a film that became very important for the national cinema. As a cinematographer, Khodzhakuli Narliyev shot four feature films. As a director, he made the most significant films in Turkmen cinema. The Bride (a feature film of 1972) is considered to be the calling card of Turkmen cinema. In recent years he has served as first secretary of the Film Union of Turkmenistan.
- "New ‘New’ Wave Filmmakers Welcome Their Audiences’ Discomfort: Kazakh and Kyrgyz Youth Films" / by Jane Knox-Voina KinoKultura: Issue 24 (2009)
- Turksib (U.S.S.R., dir. Victor A. Turin, 1929)
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- The Light Thief (Kyrgyzstan, dir. Aktan Abdykalykov, 2010)
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Additional Resources on Selected Major Films from Central Asia
"(In)Action Film: Genre and Identity in Rashid Nugmanov’s The Needle" from Genre in Asian Film and Television by ISBN: 9781349323036Date: 2011-01-01he Needle/Igla (Rashid Nugmanov, USSR, 1988) was unanimously hailed by critics as both the starting point and the most memorable film of the ‘New Wave’ of Kazakh cinema (Horton and Brashinsky 1992; Zebrina Pruner 1992; Dönmez-Colin 1997, 2006). The Kazakh New Wave was to be a brief but exciting moment that produced a handful of innovative and energetic low-budget films, both informed by and responding to the newfound openness of the perestroika and glasnost reforms, which began in the Soviet Union in 1987.
"The Forces of Kinship: Timur Bekmambetov’s Night Watch Cinematic Trilogy" from Russian Science Fiction Literature and Cinema by ISBN: 9781618117229Date: 2018-02-28In Timur Bekmambetov’s Night Watch and Day Watch the father and son are divided by their loyalties to the opposing forces of Light and Darkness, and each of them finds this separation excruciatingly painful. The director chooses the realm of the family, with a special focus on parent–child relations, to explore the social phenomenon of authority. He constructs a myth that accounts for Russia’s contemporary social structure, a myth that serves as a source of morality and generally as the origin of civilization. Prompted by the structure of the films, I analyze the father–son relationship as a set
"Timur Bekmambetov’s Night Watch and Day Watch: Russia’s Secret Others" from Conspiracy Culture by - This link opens in a new window
ISBN: 1487507372Date: 2020In addition to witnessing a spate of conspiracy or occult-inflected works, such as Viktor Pelevin’s Generation II or Vladimir Solov’ev’s Ice Trilogy (2004–6), the 2000s saw the explosion onscreen in Russia and abroad of the mega-blockbuster Night Watch (2004) and its sequel Day Watch (2006). The two films are remarkable both for their unprecedented market success (they were created expressly with the ambition of scoring a Russian victory against the Hollywood juggernaut)¹ and for their crafting of a cinematic narrative that weaves together conspiracy, occult, and apocalyptic motifs in order to represent twenty-first-century Moscow
- "'Nomad' for export, not for domestic consumption: Kazakhstan's arrested endeavour to 'put the country on the map'" / by Saulesh Yessenova
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This article examines one of those projects: the epic film Nomad (2005). A grandiose state-sponsored endeavour, this film was designed to introduce Kazakhstan, its people and its history to the world and to brand the country as a creative modern economy. However, once released, Nomad made little impact in the public consciousness and proved unsuccessful not only internationally but also domestically. This raised the question of the reasons for the failure of such a costly cinematic effort. This article addresses the question at what juncture of conception or production precisely did the film lose its viewers. To this end the film's story is situated within both Kazakh past and present cultural milieus in order to explain both the state's branding choices and missed opportunities. - "Along the Silk Road" / by Jon Bowman
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The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M. : 1988), 2004, p.P-46.
- FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals This link opens in a new window Searches film and television articles in the International Index to Film Periodicals (1972-current) and Treasures from the Film Archives, which contains silent film-era listings from archives.
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- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window Articles and reviews from a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, circus, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television, and more. Former database title: International Index to Performing Arts (IIPA) Full Text.
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- Iskusstvo Kino Digital Archive This link opens in a new window Digital archive of published reviews of contemporary Russian and foreign movies, articles on history and theory of Russian and world cinema as well as general essays on Russian culture and arts.
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- Cinemaya : the Asian film magazine In English; Periodicals from 1988-2004
- American Bibliography of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ABSEEES) This link opens in a new window Covers North American and some European scholarship since the late 1980s on East-Central Europe, Russia, the former Soviet Union and former Soviet republics. Indexes journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, and selected government publications.
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- Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) This link opens in a new window Index of western-language monographs, articles, and book chapters on all parts of Asia and Asian Studies (East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Indian Ocean) published since 1971.
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- FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals This link opens in a new window Searches film and television articles in the International Index to Film Periodicals (1972-current) and Treasures from the Film Archives, which contains silent film-era listings from archives.
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- JSTOR This link opens in a new window Full text back issues of core scholarly journals, browsable and searchable across multiple disciplines. Coverage starts with first issue, with moving wall for most recent 3-5 years. UCLA has access to selected JSTOR e-books only. JSTOR also includes primary source collections, including images from Artstor.
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- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Cinema and Media Studies This link opens in a new window Annotated bibliographies for topics in the field of Cinema and Media Studies. Combines encyclopedia-style introductions with expert recommendations of the most important reference works, books, journals, and primary sources on the topic.
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- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window Articles and reviews from a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, circus, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television, and more. Former database title: International Index to Performing Arts (IIPA) Full Text.
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- Project MUSE This link opens in a new window Full text of current issues (from about 1990) of scholarly journals published by university presses, chiefly in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Browsable by discipline and full-text searchable across all disciplines. UCLA has access to Muse e-books published from 2017-present, plus a selected number of other e-book titles.
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- Universal Database of Central Asia and Caucasus (UDB-CAC) This link opens in a new window Journals and newspapers from former Soviet republics. The database consists of titles from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
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- BAMPFA - Films From Along the Silk Road: Central Asian Cinema List of Central Asian Films exhibited at BAMPFA - UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive - in 2005.
- Kazakh Film Studios In Russian; e-journal devoted to Central Asian cinema, edited by Gulnara Abikeyeva and produced by Kazakhfilm
- Novastan.org Novastan is the only European media entirely dedicated to post-Soviet Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). Launched in Bishkek in 2011, it is now based in Paris and Berlin, and publishes online in French, German and English.
- UNESCO - Film industries in Central Asia: a view today and towards the future The overall economic impact, social role and status of cultural professionals involved in the film industries of the Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) remain relatively understudied. However, the film industry is recognized as one of the oldest and most developed cultural and creative industries of the region since the mid 20th century.In this context, this publication assesses the film industries of Central Asia and concerned legislation. It provides recommendations for its future development, international cooperation prospects and ways to improve the status of local culture professionals and creative entrepreneurs working in the cinema sector. It also considers funding mechanisms of cinema industries.
- UNESCO: Strengthening Film Industries in Central Asia The project aims to strengthen national capacities and regional networking opportunities to develop the cultural and creative industries (CCI), in particular the film industry, in Central Asia and raise awareness of the importance of CCI for sustainable development.
- Uzbek cinema — Kultura.uz (from Kultura.uz, a current website for art and culture in Uzbekistan; in Russian)
Selected Films from Central Asia
Turksib (U.S.S.R., dir. Victor A. Turin, 1929)
"Viktor Turin's Turksib (1930) is a stirring chronicle of the building of the Turkestan-Siberian railway. The film, using montage techniques, was a major inspiration to the British and American documentary film movements of the 1930s."
UCLA students, staff, and faculty access through Alexander Street Press. Log into the campus VPN or proxy server to view video.
The Light Thief (Kyrgyzstan, dir. Aktan Abdykalykov, 2010)
"In this colorful modern-day parable of good and evil, a humble village electrician devotes his compassion and ingenuity to destitute neighbors in a wind-swept valley of Kyrgyzstan."
UCLA students, staff, and faculty access through Alexander Street Press. Log into the campus VPN or proxy server to view video.
Roof of the World (Tajikistan, dir. Stephan Kuhnrich, 2013)
"These are the breathtaking sights at the highest points on the planet, silent ambassadors of long gone cultures: Asias mountain lakes. Each lake, whether in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan or Tibet, tells a story of the inhabitants of these remote, unique locations. This documentary focuses on the people who live around the Karakul in Tajikistan."
UCLA students, staff, and faculty access through Alexander Street Press. Log into the campus VPN or proxy server to view video.
Face the Music/Men Sen Emes (dir. Katerina Suvorova, 2018)
This documentary film from the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan follows national protests over a local boy band called Ninety One, who perform in the genre known as Q-Pop (the Qazaq answer to K-Pop). As Ninety One grows in popularity, driven by a new generation of Kazakh-speaking youth, their act ignites anger in other sectors of society, leading to major street protests, cancelled concerts, and pressure from the government.