gönül dönmez-colin d gönül dönmez-colin ö n Cinemas Other m of the e z - c o a personal journey with film-makers from l i CENTRAL ASIA n ‘An unprecedented set of insights into the creative domain where the politics of creativity meet the poetics of emancipation; an exceedingly readable and informa- tive book.’ – Professor Hamid Dabashi, Colombia University C i n An updated collection of recent interviews with filmmakers whose works represent trends in the film industry of Central Asia, this new geospecific edition expands upon the earlier volume Cinemas of the e Other: A Personal Journey with Film-Makers from the Middle East and Central Asia. m Following an introduction delineating the histories of the film industries of the Central Asian republics of a Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the books contain interviews stretching s over a decade, which position the filmmakers and their creative concerns within the social or political Cinemas Other context of their respective countries. The striking variety of approaches toward each interview creates a of of the rich diversity of tone and opens the door to a better understanding of images of “otherness” in film. In t h addition to transcripts of the interviews, each chapter also includes stills from important films discussed, e O 2nd edition biographical information about the filmmakers, and filmographies of their works. Dönmez-Colin offers in this expanded edition a carefully researched and richly detailed firsthand ac- t count of the developments and trends in these regional film industries that is sure to be appreciated by h film scholars and researchers of Central Asia. e r Gönül Dönmez-Colin is a film scholar specializing in the cinemas of Central Asia and the Middle East. She is the author of Turkish Cinema: Identity, Distance, and Belonging and Women, Islam and Cinema; and the editor of The Cinema of North Africa and the Middle East. ISBN 978-1-84150-549-7 0 0 a personal journey with film-makers from 9 781841 505497 CENTRAL ASIA intellect | www.intellectbooks.com Cinemas of the Other: A Personal Journey with Film-makers from Central Asia 2nd Edition (cid:52)(cid:72)(cid:69)(cid:0)(cid:52)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:83)(cid:84)(cid:85)(cid:83)(cid:0)(cid:48)(cid:76)(cid:65)(cid:89)(cid:83) Why We Make Art Cinemas of the Other: at why it is taught A Personal Journey with Film-makers from Central Asia 2nd Edition by Richard Hickman by Gö(cid:27)n(cid:156)ü(cid:152)l D(cid:202)(cid:47)ön(cid:213)m(cid:204)(cid:204)e(cid:143)(cid:105)z-Colin (cid:94)(cid:99)(cid:105)(cid:90)(cid:97)(cid:97)(cid:90)(cid:88)(cid:105)(cid:1)(cid:55)(cid:103)(cid:94)(cid:104)(cid:105)(cid:100)(cid:97)(cid:33)(cid:21)(cid:74)(cid:64)(cid:21)(cid:16)(cid:1)(cid:56)(cid:93)(cid:94)(cid:88)(cid:86)(cid:92)(cid:100)(cid:33)(cid:21)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:54) First published in the UK in 2012 by Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK First published in the USA in 2012 by Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA Copyright © 2012 Gönül Dönmez-Colin All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Production manager: Jelena Stanovnik Cover designer: Holly Rose Copy-editor: MPS Technologies Typesetting: John Teehan ISBN 978-1-84150-549-7/EISBN 978-1-84150-766-8 Printed and bound by Hobbs the Printers Ltd, UK Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 KazaKhstan Ardak Amirkulov and Ermek Shinarbaev 15 A New Beginning 20 Being Young in Almaty 27 Serik Aprimov 34 The Last Stop is Aksuat 36 The Need for Hunters 43 Rachid Nugmanov 48 The Wild East, Rockers, Bikers and a New Life 50 Kyrgyzstan Chingiz Aitmatov 59 The Equivocal Marriage of Literature and Cinema 61 Aktan Arymkubat (Abdikalikov) 68 The Most Successful Kyrgyz Film-maker 71 Let There Be Light 77 Ernest Abdizhaparov 82 Minimalist World 84 Gennadi Bazarov 86 A Culture to Share with the Young 87 Tolomush Okeev 93 Searching for Lost Identity 93 tajiKistan Tachir Mukharovich Sabirov 105 More than a Generation Gap 105 turKmenistan Halmammet Kakabaev 115 Human Values in a World in Transition 115 uzbeKistan Kamara Kamalova 123 The ‘Grande Dame’ Of Central Asian Cinema 124 Zulfikar Mussakov 129 Humour in the Absence of Hope and Laughter 129 Yusuf Razikov 136 The Unfair Battle of the Sexes 138 Film Credits 147 Selected Bibliography 169 for Maya, Inés and Phyllis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all film-makers who participated in this project, which would not have been possible without the generous contribution of their time and sincere and open sharing of their work, ideas, feelings and dreams. Special thanks are due to film festivals that focus on the lesser-known cinemas of the world, making it possible to view films that are not otherwise available, particularly, festival des 3 continents – Nantes, Cottbus Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival, Istanbul International Film Festival and Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinemas. ix