The history ofUzbek cinema can be divided into two periods: the cinema ofSoviet Uzbekistan (1924–1991) and the cinema of independentUzbekistan (1991–present).
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 inBukhara as 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 Death by 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 targetingIslam during theUSSR anti-religious campaign (1928–1941).[1]
Films of the Soviet period were shot either inRussian orUzbek. 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 Oath by Aleksandr Ulos’stev-Garf was the firsttalking film produced 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] Since 1966, Uzbekfilm has been releasing the republican satirical newsreel "Nashtar" ("Scalpel"), created bySamig Abdukakhkhar and Anatoly Kobulov (six issues per year).[5][6] These short films were typically shown in cinemas before the main feature.
TheUzbekistan State Institute of Arts and Culture inTashkent is the major film school.[7][8]
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.[9][10] They suggested that while the quantity of Uzbek films is going up, the quality was not.[9] 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).[11]
With the appointment ofFirdavs Abdukhalikov as general director of Uzbekkino in 2019,[12] radical reforms in the cinematography of Uzbekistan were launched. In 2020, about 200 well-known filmmakers of the republic, includingAli Khamraev andKamara 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 Mirziyoyev actually 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 Festival was 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.[13] Was founded theCenter for the Development of National Cinematography of Uzbekistan was created, which is responsible for the development of cinematography in the country and holding events in the country and abroad.[14] Since 2023, the Center has been headed byFurkat Usmanov.[15]
Uzbekistani actors and actresses include:
The following are selected critically acclaimed Uzbek films:
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