UNESCO published a book on the film industry in Uzbekistan

The UNESCO Tashkent Office published a research on “Film industry in Uzbekistan and its Contribution to Social and Economic Development”. The author of the book, Ms Nigora Karimova, is a filmologist, Doctor of Art History and Head of the Cinema and Television Department at the Institute of Art Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan.

The book was published in Russian within the first phase of the UNESCO project “Strengthening cultural and creative industries in Lao PDR, Uzbekistan and Rwanda “* with the generous support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea.

The publication provides a large-scale analytical report on the state and prospects of the Uzbek film industry.

It examines the role of women in the film industry of Uzbekistan, identifies existing problems and shortcomings in the national film industry, analyses the role of the State and private film studios in the creation of a modern film market, and presents proposals and recommendations for improving the film industry in Uzbekistan. The chronological range of research covers the period from 2007 to 2017.

The film industry makes its contribution to the country’s economy. According to researchers’ forecasts, by 2040 the film industry will become one of the five leading industries in the world, and the profits of the global film industry in the next ten years will increase by one and a half times.

Uzbekistan is the birthplace of the cinema in Central Asia – in 1887, the first film screening took place in Tashkent. In 1924, the Russian-Bukhara cinema organization “Bukhkino” was established in Bukhara, and in 1925 the first film factory “Shark Yulduzi” was opened in Tashkent. It was precisely in Bukhara and Tashkent, in the mid-1920s, that the first feature films were created, which laid the basis for the national cinematography of Uzbekistan and served as an example for the formation of national cinematographs throughout the Central Asian region.

On August 3, 2017, at a meeting with representatives of creative intelligentsia, the President of Uzbekistan His Excellency Mr Shavkat Mirziyoyev said: “If we want to immortalize the memory of our forefathers, we will be able to do this primarily through the art of cinematography “. These words define the tasks facing the national cinematography and film studies of Uzbekistan.

The publication has been prepared in consultation with a number of film industry experts and using statistical data of the National Agency «Uzbekkino» and the State Committee of Uzbekistan on Statistics. In the process of preparing the research, additional resources were used such as social surveys, interviews with specialists in film production, and others.