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Cinema of Turkmenistan
Films
People
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Early years[edit]

  • Started in 1920s.

Early years characaterised by "propaganda and ideological tendentiousness" [1]

Turkmenfilm[edit]

Main: Evgeny Ivanov-Barkov

AKA: Yevgeni Ivanov-Barkov Yevgeny Ivanov-Barkov Yevgeni Ivanov-Barkov Eugene Ivanov-Barkov Evgenii Ivanov-Barkov Evgeniy Ivanov-Barkov

  • 1940 - first film shot at new studio, Dursun (Yevgeni Ivanov-Barkov, who became a key figure in the development of Turkmen cinema. Previously, he had made a successful film Judas (1929), but little since, until the film studio invited him to make Dursun. In attempting to make the film as authentic as possible, Ivanov-Barkov carefully studied Turkmen culture and everyday life in the country.[1] Leading lady was Nina Alisova: "To play the role of Dursun properly, I had to study a life that was new to me, the particularities of the national milieu. I spent many days in the villages, in different families, and there I came across more than one prototype of my Dursun". Deemed successful by Slapke. Husband Nury played by Alty Karliev. Plot: Wife is a member of the Communist Party's Youth League, Komsomol - depicts struggle with her husband, who personifies the "old remnants of society". Nury continues to love his wife, but is confused by her new beliefs. Karliev considered this to be one of his best roles, and also one that he particularly enjoyed. Apart from Alisova, all of the actors in the film were Turkmen actors, "who had no experience of working in cinema but who justified his faith in them".[2]
  • Ivanov-Barkov's later films: The Procurator (1941), The Distant Bride (1948), The Beloved's Scarf (1956), Extraordinary Mission (1957). The Distant Bride - first film to be made in the studio after the Second World War, a musical comedy. Successful when released, distributed across Soviet Union, one of I-B's most popular films. Starred Karliev and Aman Kulmamedov. According to Slapke, too "schematic and superficial, concealed beneath a wealth of ethnographic material and oriental colour".[2]
  • Postwar documentary focussed on socialist reconstruction, emancipation of women etc. [3]

1950s[edit]

  • Alty Karliev (actor and director): "The indisputable founder of Turkmen national cinema"[4]

Alty Karliev[edit]

1974 - name given to the Turkmenfilm Studio in Ashkhabad.[4]

  • Last two films he directed: Magtymguly (1968), about Turkmen poet of the same name; The Secrets of Maqam (1974), about Turkmen singer Karkara. Popular films, although not matching success of The Decisive Step.[5]
  • Karliev important especially in "providing a link between the old cinema of the 1940s and 1950s - filmed in the Turkmen studio predominantly by Russian and Ukranian directors - and the new generation of the 1960s and 1970s, represented mainly by Turkmens"[6]

The Decisive Step (1965)[edit]

  • Directed by Alty Karliev[4]
  • With this film, according to Slapke, "he would emerge as an experienced master"[4]
  • Based on novel by Berdy Kerbabaev[4]
  • "may rightly be considered the peak of Karliev's work as a director"[4]
  • Plot: Turkmen labourer in search of love
  • Lead: Baba Annanov, "who managed to create a vivid, emotional character"[5] Other lead Artyk Djallyev
  • Careful in reproducing details of Turkmen life and culture[5]
  • Importance of music. Score written by Nury Khalmamedov. Contains elements of both Turkmen folk music and European symphonic music[5]
  • Reception: Was not well-received throughout the Soviet Union but, according to Slapke, gained "cult status" in Turkmenistan, with many people choosing to view it frequently.[5]. Meant the two lead actors became "household names" [5]

1960s and 1970s[edit]

  • 1960s and 1970s as the peak of Turkmen feature filmmaking[3]
  • The "first triumph of Turkmen cinema" was The Contest (1963), the debut film by Bulat Mansurov. "Essentially his student diploma work". First time audiences were drawn to "a Turkmen cinema that was purely national in form".[6]
  • The Contest based on Nurmurat Sarykhanov's novel Shukur-bakhshi, based on the true story of competition between dutar player Shukur-Bakhshi and Persian court musician Ghulam-Bakhshi. In the film, this plot served as the backdrop for a depiction of "the tragic fate of the Turkmen people and their search for truth and justice".[6]
    • "Shukur rejects war and violence as a way to solve problems and differences and so he sets out for neighbouring Persia to gain a musical victory over the enemy and to arouse warm feelings in him through his own music"[7]
    • "stylistically almost impeccable" - praise for cameraman Khodjakuli Narliev. Music by Nury as "surprisingly multifaceted, deeply philosophical and profoundly tragic".[7]
    • Leading roles played by non-professional actors Aman Khandurdyev (Shukur) and Khodjan Ovezgelenov (Ghulam)[7]
    • "It is difficult to believe that they were non-professionals when you see how naturally, profoundly, precisely and convincingly they live in character"[7]
    • "An utterly bold, experimental and innovative film"[7]
    • Ultimately about the conflict between good and evil, two polarised worldviews. Chingiz Aitmatov: "This is a film about the eternal duel between good and evil, war and peace".[7]
    • "It is difficult to overestimate the historic significance of The Contest in the development of Turkmen cinema"[8] - Mansurov as a "pioneer", "opening a door to Europe, to broad international recognition", paving the way for Khodjakuli Narliev and Maya-Gozel Aimedova[8]
  • Later films by Mansurov at Turkmenfilm: Quenching the Thirst (1966), based on novel by Yuri Trifonov about labourers constructing the Karakum canal; The Slave Girl (1968), based on story by Andrei Platonov about a slave girl Jamal being freed[7]
  • 1970s and 1980s "years of prosperity, breakthrough and international recognition"[8]
  • Key player was Khodjakuli Narliev. For many, Narliev defined Turkmen cinema at the time.[8]

Narliev[edit]

  • Head of the Union of Cinematographers of Turkmenistan 1976-1998. Well-respected by other Turkmen filmmakers. [8]
  • Under Narliev, the UCT made good progress: number of films increased, facilities at the Turkmen studio improved[8]
  • Graduated from camerawork faculty of VGIK in 1960[8]
  • Became a cameraman at Turkmen Film, later moving also into acting, scriptwriting and directing[8]
  • First became known through his camerawork on Mansurov films The Contest, Quenching the Thirst and The Slave Girl. Cinematographic style characterised by "fine observation, organic fluency and expressiveness"[8]
  • First directing credit with feature film Man Overboard (1969) - narrative of a fisherman, Sapar, who was unable to save his friend Murad, when he went overboard.[8]
  • Second feature film: Daughter-in-Law (1972). His "true debut". Featured actress Maya-Gozel Aimedova, "his favourite woman who was to become his eternal muse". Became a "creative duo". Based on memories of his childhood - a situation similar to that described in the film actually happened in his village, with a woman following husband to war soon after they got married, and then living with her father-in-law after her husband was killed. Main character Ogulkeik. Being young and beautiful, people expect her to remarry; her father-in-law is happy with this, and tries to encourage her to find another husband. She refuses, wanting to remain faithful to her first love. "Amazingly beautiful" film.[9] Covers a topical issue, as in postwar Turkmenistan, there were many widows who had chosen not to remarry out of devotion to their first husbands and faced criticism from those around them as a consequence. [10]
  • Daughter-in-Law as his "best film"[3]
  • 1974: When a Woman Saddles a Horse (1974) - historical drama. Dedicated to Ene Kulieva. Centres on Artykgul, an activist (female). Inspired by Narliev's mother's first cousin once removed, a "revolutionary", campaigning on issues relating to education and literacy for Turkmen women. Narliev "exposes the stagnant and reactionary elements" of popular traditions.[10]
  • 1980: Jamal's Tree. Based on tradition of planting a tree to leave behind something good after life. Jamal (female) grows a tree in the middle of the desert, travelling on donkey every day to water it. She dies saving her husband, but the tree remains as a "symbol of life and love". "Jamal nurtured her tree, continuing the good tradition of her people, thus demonstrating the great strength of spirit and faith of a simple Turkmen woman". Both Jamal's Tree and Daughter in Law share a minimalist style, with "sparse dialogue" and an "intimacy of events"[11]
  • Many of Narliev's female protagonists are inspired by people he has known[11]
  • Many parts of Narliev's films are inspired by events in his childhood[11]
  • "an almost documentary style" in his films[11]
  • Themes tend to be universal in their appeal: motherhood, loyalty, love, death etc.[11]
  • Likes "open endings", leaving the audience with "plenty of leeway for their own further reflection and their own imagination"[11]
  • Many later Turkmen films had a sense of "uncertainty and hopelessness". Narliev's films, although often tragic, "always left them with a belief that things would get better and a hope for the future"[12]
  • Landscapes in his films are always recognizably from Turkmenistan, with a focus on desert landscapes[12]
  • Connection between "personal love" and "love for the homeland"[12]
  • Has been described by "Western journalists, as well as Chingiz Aitmatov and Tolomush Okeev, as the "Turkmen Fellini" - comparison in the "daily grind...described in detail and with great affection", the same complexity and depth, "beneath the apparent simplicity of an unpretentious plot".[12]
  • 1984: Fragi, Deprived of Happiness - made by governmental request for the 250th anniversary of Magtymguly. A previous film had been made about the man by Alty Karliev in 1968, but this had been a unsuccessful depiction of Magtymguly. As a result, Narliev was initially nervous about the commission[12]. A two-part film was very well-received by both film critics and cinema audiences within Turkmenistan, although it did not reach an international audience, probably because of its subject matter[13]
  • 1990, Mankurt, based on Chingiz Aitmatov's novel The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years (1980), which is based around the legend of the mankurt. Filmed at Turkmenfilm Studio, worked with filmmakers from Turkey and Libya. Aitmatov had suggested the project to Narliev, as he thought Narliev was the best director to make a film version of the novel. Plot: Elaman, a young Turkic warrior, is captured and tortured, and became a mankurt, completely losing his memory. He then kills his mother. Themes of loss of memory, and loss of identity. Maya-Gozel Aimedova plays the role of the mother, who weeps at the thought of not being able to restore her son's memory. Based on ancient legend of turning captives into slaves by depriving them of their memory, placed into context of real history. [13]
  • Mankurt was banned by Turkmenbashi Niyazov, as he saw himself referenced in the film - thought govt was being accused of turning the people into mankurts, film as an act of sedition.[13] Finally received its premiere at the East-West Festival in Baku in September 2007.[14]
  • Narliev moved to Moscow in 1999[14]

1980s and 1990s[edit]

  • Growth in documentary films in this period, covering formerly "taboo" topics, such as the "self-immolation of Turkmen women"[14]
  • Independence in 1991.
  • Post-independence - "most limited production of the Central Asian states". Factors in this include: a drop in living standards, government control of the media, isolationist policies[3]
  • Mid-1990s - "ideological crackdown" by Niyazov, who "outlawed all forms of art that had no relationship to traditional Turkmen folklore"[14]
  • Union of Cinematographers was dissolved, harsh censorship, political persecution. Many filmmakers forced to emigrate. [14]
  • 1992 - Angelotchek Sdelai Radost / Little Angel, Make Me Happy by Usman Saparov, a children's film. Won an award at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival[15]
  • Director/Actor Kerim Annanov (son of Baba Annanov) remained in the country despite difficulties and attempted to continue making films. He was head of Turkmenfilm in 1990s. Made Legend (1999). Annanov attempted to avoid censorship with a historical film, but the president prevented the film's release. It has not been shown in Turkmenistan or internationally. [16]
  • 1998 - State studio Turkmenfilm closed[3]
  • After 1999, film production in Turkmenistan almost completely stopped. Only film that was viewed after this - on television, some older Soviet, Turkmen or Indian films were allowed to be shown, others could be watched via home video market.[16]
  • Narliev and Shugarev forced to leave the country as they came into conflict with the government[3]
  • "Since independence, the state has focused its efforts on the encouragement of Turkmen-language theatres and other forms of 'traditional' entertainment. Cinemas, the circus, and the opera and ballet theatre have all closed."[17]
  • Government regulations meant all Turkmen films had to be in the Turkmenian language, despite the high number of Russian speakers in the country.[15]
    • 1996 - Sergei Shugarev used a Russian voiceover in Ham Hyyal / Aromat Dzhelany / Fragrance of Wishes[15]

2000s[edit]

  • Early 2000s - Diplomatic representatives of other countries sometimes organised special events to celebrate the cinema of that country - inc. Turkey, India and France[16]
  • 2005 travel guide:
    • Soviet cinemas in Ashgabat closed or used as theatres for music and drama events.[18]
    • Some privately-owned "DVD Centres" provide the only opportunities to watch films in Ashgabat. The Yimpash Cinema Club had three daily screenings, and a cinema-style atmosphere, including the sale of popcorn and soft drinks.[18]
  • 2006 - Niyazov died. Many prohibitions have been relaxed. Turkmenfilm have been involved in the restoration of classic Turkmen films. Cinemas rebuilt or repaired. [19]
  • 2007 - Turkmenfilm reopened, named after Khan Oguz[3]
  • 2008 - International film festival held in Ashgabat under the title "Turkmenistan and International Cinema". [20]
  • 2008 - 3 video feature films made[3]
  • Two cinemas in Turkmenistan, both in Ashghabad[3]

Narliev name[edit]

  • Khodjakuli Narliev[6]
  • Khodzakuli Narliev[3]

Halmammet Kakabaev[edit]

  • 1988 - made Ogul (The Son), the last Turkmen film of the Soviet period. Script written by Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov. Plot - Musician goes to war and does not return. [21]
  • 1997 - Toba (Repentance). Jagmur, a businessman, has been successful in the new economy. His success leads him to be embarrassed by his humble origins, in particular his sick mother. His mother dies while he is on holiday abroad. He feels very guilty as a result. He gives up his wealthy lifestyle and business and becomes a shepherd.[21]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b Slapke 2013, p. 90.
  2. ^ a b Slapke 2013, p. 91.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dönmez-Colin 2012, p. 8.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Slapke 2013, p. 92.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Slapke 2013, p. 93.
  6. ^ a b c d Slapke 2013, p. 94.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Slapke 2013, p. 95.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Slapke 2013, p. 96.
  9. ^ Slapke 2013, p. 97.
  10. ^ a b Slapke 2013, p. 98.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Slapke 2013, p. 99.
  12. ^ a b c d e Slapke 2013, p. 100.
  13. ^ a b c Slapke 2013, p. 101.
  14. ^ a b c d e Slapke 2013, p. 102.
  15. ^ a b c Dönmez-Colin 2003, p. 15.
  16. ^ a b c Slapke 2013, p. 103.
  17. ^ Brummell 2005, p. 81.
  18. ^ a b Brummell 2005, p. 82.
  19. ^ Slapke 2013, p. 103-104.
  20. ^ Slapke 2013, p. 104.
  21. ^ a b Dönmez-Colin 2012, p. 115.

Bibiliography[edit]

  • Brummell, Paul (2005). Turkmenistan. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-84162-144-9.
  • Dönmez-Colin, Gönül (2012). Cinemas of the Other: A Personal Journey with Film-Makers from Central Asia. Intellect Books. ISBN 978-1-84150-549-7.
  • Dönmez-Colin, Gönul (2003). "Central Asian cinema". In Oliver Leaman (ed.). Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-66251-7.
  • Slapke, Swetlana (2013). "Fragments from the history of Turkmen cinema". In Michael Rouland; et al. (eds.). Cinema in Central Asia: Rewriting Cultural Histories. I.B.Tauris. pp. 90–104. ISBN 978-1-84511-901-0. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |editor= (help)
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