Retrospective of Uzbek filmmaker Ali Khamraev reveals Soviet New Wave exchange
A showcase featuring eight films by Uzbek filmmaker Ali Khamraev is currently being held at various locations, including the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, highlighting his work from 1966 to 1998. Khamraev, born in 1937, created films across different genres in Central Asian and Russian film industries. His 1964 film, Yor-Yor, merges traditional Uzbek elements with contemporary styles. The 1966 film White, White Storks employs documentary methods to tackle themes of women's liberation. Without Fear (1972) focuses on land redistribution, while Seventh Bullet (1972), co-written with Fridrikh Gorenshtein and Andron Konchalovskii, embodies Central Asian Westerns. Influences from Tarkovsky can be seen in Man Follows Birds (1975). Triptych (1979) and I Remember You (1985) delve into Uzbek-Russian cultural dynamics. His 1998 post-Soviet film, Bo Ba Bu, offers an allegorical take on gender relations. Critic Kent Jones describes Khamraev as "the most flamboyant director in the entire region."
Key facts
- Ali Khamraev retrospective featured eight films from 1966 to 1998
- Retrospective distributed by Seagull Films, shown at Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago
- Khamraev born 1937, son of Tajik father and Ukrainian mother
- Directed across genres including romantic comedy, political drama, and Central Asian Westerns
- Films address themes of women's liberation and Uzbek modernity
- Collaborated with Russian directors including Andron Konchalovskii and Andrei Tarkovsky
- Post-Soviet film Bo Ba Bu (1998) was French-Italian co-production
- Critic Kent Jones called him "most flamboyant director in the entire region"
Entities
Artists
- Ali Khamraev
- Andrey Konchalovsky
- Otar Iosseliani
- Kent Jones
- Grigorii Roshal'
- Sairam Isaeva
- Sayram Isoyeva
- Bolot Beishenaliev
- Jakub Akhmedov
- Dilorom Kambarova
- Oleg Zhakov
- Nikolai Olialin
- Iurii Klimenko
- Peter Rollberg
- Fridrikh Gorenshtein
- Andron Konchalovskii
- Suimenkul Chokmorov
- Aleksandr Kaidanovskii
- Anatolii Solonitsyn
- Gul'buston Tashbaeva
- Vladimir Motyl'
- Dzhanik Faiziev
- Shavkat Abdusalamov
- Viacheslav Leonidovich Bogachov
- Arielle Dombasle
- Abdrashid Abdrakhmanov
- Andrei Zviagintsev
- Sergei Loznitskii
- Gul'shad Omarova
- T. Khlopliankina
- Georgii Daneliia
- Sergei Urusevskii
- Mikhail Kalatozov
- Tolomush Okeev
- Z. Sabitov
- Aleksandr Misharin
- Nikita Mikhalkov
- Nikolai Grin'ko
- Oleg Iankovskii
- Igor' Maiboroda
- Aleksandr Sokurov
- Robert Bird
- Andrei Tarkovsky
- Sergei Paradzhanov
Institutions
- Seagull Films
- Gene Siskel Film Center
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK)
- Film Comment
- Scarecrow Press
- University of Chicago
- Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
- Cinema and Media Studies
- Divinity School
- ARTMargins Online
Locations
- Chicago
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Tajikistan
- Moscow
- Russia
- Italy
- Tashkent
- Bukhara
- Kabul
- Afghanistan
- Khiva
- Viaz'ma
- Samarkand
- Isfara
- Turkmenistan