CENTRAL ASIAN CINEMA FORUM

CASI, in coordination with the TV, Cinema and Media Arts Department at AUCA, held a forum on Central Asian Cinema from 18-20 June 2022 to showcase the skilled filmmakers currently working at AUCA and to impart lessons of theory and practice to student filmmakers in the Kyrgyz Republic and Central Asia. Nurzhamal Karamoldoeva, an accomplished filmmaker in TCMA, organized the forum and transformed the event into an impressive showcase of local and international cinematic expertise.

A series of local scholars illuminated the distinctive contours of Central Asian film at the forum, with Gulnara Abikeeva discussing the film industry in Kazakhstan and Kasym Orozbaev examining issues of authority and authenticity in Central Asian cinema. Erke Dzhumakhmatova discussed film in the local, Kyrgyz context while Sharofat Arabova assessed the impact of the pandemic on filmmaking in Tajikistan.

Showcasing local directors and film critics, the forum also boasted a roster of established international scholars who provided talks and presentations. These included Oxana Sarkisova, a scholar of Soviet era film from CEU and the author of Screening Soviet Nationalities, as well as Sean Homer, a professor of film and literature at the American University in Bulgaria who delivered a presentation on engaging cultural trauma through cinema. 

CASI supported the Central Asian Cinema Forum as a part of its broader effort to bolster the humanities in Central Asia and out of a commitment to build workshops around the expertise of AUCA faculty and to put their contributions to the Central Asian arts in relief.