Between the Middle East and the western Chinese border lies a vast stretch of the continent that has barely registered on the Western cultural radar. This is the world where Genghis Khan ruled, and through which the great trade route called the Silk Road ran. The five former Soviet Asian republics are known to some as “the stans”-Turkmenistan, Tadjikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, linked by geographical proximity yet each possessed of its own unique culture. And its own distinctive national cinema.
Chances are you've never heard of most of the films in this series. You may wonder why. The reason is nothing more or less than an accident of history. When the Soviet Union collapsed, so did the apparatus for the promotion and distribution of films from Central Asia. Every time the films have surfaced, it's been the result of a titanic effort on the part of a few valiant scholars, programmers, and festival organizers. But the films are worth the effort. These countries are as culturally rich as they are cash poor, and the films, spanning eight decades and representing all five of the Central Asian republics plus Afghanistan, are rich in artistic and poetic miracles.
Kent Jones
Presented in conjunction with the Modes of Contemporary Central Asian Culture Program taking place on the UC Berkeley campus on September 24 and 25, organized by the Caucasus and Central Asia Program in the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies at UC Berkeley; for information, please call (510) 643-6737.