Cinemas of the Other: A Personal Journey with Film-Makers from Central Asia

190 Pages·2013·3.3 MB·English

by  Gonul Domez–Colin

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a personal journey with film-makers from
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‘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
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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
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Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the books contain interviews stretching
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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
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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.
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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

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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
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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.
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