Uzbekistan 1925. Director: Vjačeslav Viskovskij
Cast: N. Vendelin, V. Baranova, Oleg Frelich. 74 mins. DCP. Russian and English intertitles.
Uzbekistan 1928. Director: Oleg Frelich
Cast: R. Messerer, S. Gulyamov. 60 mins. DCP. Russian/English intertitles.
Silent movies from Uzbekistan
Uzbek film production, hardly known in Europe, is considered one of the starting points of Central Asian film production. The first film studios were founded in Buxoro as early as 1924. The Uzbek documentary filmmaker Eldzhon Abbasov has dedicated himself for several years to the restoration of the Uzbek silent film heritage. Together with Nigora Karimova (film critic and director of the Film and Television Institute of the Academy of Sciences in Tashkent), he is presenting two rediscovered works from the 1920s, which focus primarily on the role of women in society.
Saturday, 28 March, 6 pm
AZHAL MINARETI The Minaret of Death
The fragment AZHAL MINARETI is considered one of the earliest documents of Soviet-Uzbek film production. The film was shot in Buxoro and Leningrad and was directed by the Soviet director Vjačeslav Viskovskij. It tells the story of a woman who, together with her servant, is kidnapped by bandits on the way from Xiva to Buxoro. The two manage to escape, but a short time later they are again captured by the Emir of Buxoro.
Sunday, 29 March, 12 pm
PROKAŽENNAJA A Leper Woman
Based on a novel by Ferdinand Duchêne, PROKAŽENNAJA tells the story of a woman who gets married to a rich merchant. When one day she wears European clothes, this has serious consequences. Her husband disapproves of her behaviour and starts to abuse her. In her desperation, the woman begins an affair with a Russian officer. A LEPER WOMAN was the first Uzbek directorial work by Oleg Frelich, who had also played a leading role in THE MINARET OF DEATH.
Introductions: Eldzhon Abbasov, Nigora Karimova
In coo-peration with
