Abdulladzhan, or Dedicated to Steven Spielberg

Abdulladzhan, or Dedicated to Steven Spielberg 1992

5.60

Considering that Musakov’s Abdulladzhan (1991) was dedicated to Steven Spielberg, we might suggest that these four boys embody nothing more complicated than a conflict of youthful innocence with some ominous threat—the basic workings of E.T. (1982) or War of the Worlds (2005), say. That threat, however, is best understood not through vague nationalism or warmed-over socialism, but through the other reference-point of Abdulladzhan—Tarkovskii’s Stalker (1980). Musakov leaves his boys in a simplified radiance so bright and so overexposed that it no longer looks like the skies of sunny Tashkent, but a disturbing, borderless luminosity to match the flat tonal range of Stalker’s “Zone.” Our Uzbek boys are nowhere in particular; this is a broader domain than anything international.

1992

Convenience Store

Convenience Store 2022

5.30

Mukhabbat, an Uzbek immigrant, works at a convenience store on the outskirts of Moscow. Just like the rest of the immigrants at the store, she is forced to work without getting paid and endure mental and physical abuse, until she overcomes her fear one day and takes her fate into her own hands.

2022

Scorpion

Scorpion 2018

6.80

An agent of the Uzbek special services, Timur Saliev, is conducting an operation to seize the Scorpion terrorist group when he learns that his brother, whom he considered dead, is alive and belongs to this very organization.

2018

Panoh

Panoh 2007

1

A wealthy man hires two bodyguards, one a former paratrooper (Qodirov) and the other just released from prison (Soipov), to protect his two daughters, Gulnoza (Ashurboeva) and Dilnoza (Eshonqulova). Whilst at first the girls are reluctant to accept their fate, they soon realise how lucky they are to have the two young men in their lives…

2007

Maysara's Tricks

Maysara's Tricks 1990

1

Two successful friends, Kadiev and Aglyamov, are watching a historical video and, as the events unfold on the screen, pour out their hearts on modern life. However, after a slight explosion, time turns back - and heroes in oriental robes and turbans find themselves in the center of events of a distant era...

1990

Osmondagi Bolalar

Osmondagi Bolalar 2002

1

The film follows the lives of four upper-class teenage boys in Tashkent, Uzbekistan including the shy son of a famous film director, a chubby cut-up, son of a rich and successful businessman, and a tough aspiring playwright who works after school to avoid his raging alcoholic of a father. The four all live in the same housing complex and go to the same high school, where they fall for a beautiful, tough-as-nails new female student. Within the exotic locale of Uzbekistan, the boys experience the usual "growing pains" as they fall in love, "borrow" the family car, work hard to earn extra money and have too much to drink. A funny, touching slice-of-life comedy-drama.

2002

Grandma the General

Grandma the General 1982

1

The film tells the story of Anzirat, an elderly woman who lives in a small village in Soviet Uzbekistan with her son, daughter-in-law, and their ten children, all boys. Because of her strictness the villagers call Anzirat "Grandma-General". Back in the 1930s, Anzirat headed the main farm of the village and went through many hardships. Even when she gets old, Anzirat does not want to rest and cannot put up with the laziness, greed, and negligence of some of the villagers. She tries to put things in order for her family. Her son, however, instead of helping his pregnant wife spends all his spare time building a family football team. Only after Anzirat's death do the residents of the village realize how empty their village is without her. They feel that Anzirat was the conscience of their village.

1982

Bygone Days

Bygone Days 1970

1

Two lovers are torn apart by the violence occurring among the feudal lords in early 19th century Tashkent.

1970

Who Are You?

Who Are You? 1990

3.00

A young doctor serving cotton growers goes to the city. On the highway, when trying to overtake a motorcade, the traffic police stops the car. The events that take place next are an accurate and witty model of a life permeated through and through with absurd relationships, ridiculous demands and inexplicable prohibitions...

1990

Sunday

Sunday 2023

1

The film tells the story of an elderly couple living a peaceful life in a village, with their eldest son living nearby and their youngest son working abroad. It depicts the struggle and conflict between two generations.

2023

Soulslayer

Soulslayer 2024

1

Images of Uzbek folklore permeate the author's story with the motif of trauma. She connects the reflection on self-acceptance and awareness of one's own strength with cultural self-determination and the need for personal and collective resilience. The narrative, woven from themes of traditional Uzbek culture through materials drawn from a variety of sources including archival Uzbek films and photographs, unfolds in an evocative sound design.

2024

Only the Devil Lives Without Hope

Only the Devil Lives Without Hope 2020

8.70

In Uzbekistan, the government has started its own war on terror. A war that – like so many others – is waged for political reasons, which rarely have anything to do with reality. As a result, thousands of Muslims are imprisoned on false charges of conspiring to commit terrorist crimes. One of them is the human rights activist Dilya's brother Iskandar, who has been imprisoned in the notorious Jaslyk prison in a barren desert since 2002 – an inhumane place of which there are no images. Today, she lives in exile in Sweden because of the threats and harassment, but Dilya continues to fight the case of her brother and other prisoners with the help of Amnesty International.

2020

Super Daughter-in-Law

Super Daughter-in-Law 2008

6.00

The 'super kelinchak' has found her place as a wife and mother yet is as feisty as the mother-in-law who taught her how to become the perfect daughter-in- law...

2008

The Shepherd

The Shepherd 2005

1.00

According to a central Asian tradition, the younger brother is responsible for the wife of his brother in his absence. So 13-year-old Jamshed is too. Lack of work made his brother leave for the West to earn money. Jamshed does what he should do, even though he dreams of things that boys of his age much prefer to do. He regards his sister-in-law and his duty to her as a burden.

2005

The Orator

The Orator 1998

3.20

Iskander, a gentle Uzbek man, is convinced by a Russian friend to give an impromptu speech praising the Communist Revolution. Impressed by his eloquence, the Soviets make Iskander a spokesman - a precarious position in a turbulent time.

1998

Mahallada duv-duv gap

Mahallada duv-duv gap 1960

5.00

The events in Mahallada duv-duv gap occur in a mahalla — a traditional Uzbek neighborhood — in an old part of Tashkent at a time when big-scale construction works are taking place. The movie humorously depicts the relationships between traditional parents and their modern children.

1960

Bo Ba Bu

Bo Ba Bu 1998

6.00

Two barbarians in the desert find a stranded white woman and regard her as their property. A strange and exotic parable that presents a tragic three-cornered relationship in a politically incorrect and ironic way.

1998

Fatima and Zukhra

Fatima and Zukhra 2005

5.00

Since Fatima and Zuhra's brother did not come home one day, Fatima is worried and goes outside to look for him. Then, the street thugs kidnap and rape Fatima. Fatima commits suicide.

2005

The Mischievous Boy

The Mischievous Boy 1978

6.30

The Mischievous Boy — "Shum bola", a film on the eponymous story of Gafur Gulyam about the adventures of a little boy, whose restless character makes him different people and life situations.

1978

Twins

Twins 2004

7.50

In the cities of Central Asia and Russia, the indomitable Fatima barrages , committing one crime after another . The Prosecutor's office investigator Pyotr Yerozhin gets in her way , not yet knowing how this investigation will be closely intertwined with his own fate.

2004