INDEPENDENT CRITICISM
Uzbek cinema deserves critical reflection from within the country, not only a view from outside.
Culture HUB Uzbekistan
Film Critics Club
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Culture Hub Uzbekistan
— an independent professional community bringing together film critics, film scholars, directors and cinematographers. We work without state funding or institutional affiliation.
At the core of our work — are three principles: critical independence, respect for the archive and openness to debuts. We publish in-depth analyses, run the Cinema Transit podcast, and organise screenings and discussions.
Why does Uzbekistan need independent film criticism?
LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
Independent criticism is not a privilege but a necessity for any living film culture.
FILM HERITAGE
To preserve the memory of films of the past and return them to contemporary cultural dialogue.
OPEN DIALOGUE
To create a space for different opinions, debates and new perspectives on cinema.
MANIFESTO
It is time to reclaim the right to our own perspective.
The Film Critics Club of Uzbekistan is being created as an independent reflective platform where cinema ceases to be merely a distribution product or an object of museum nostalgia. We are launching this project to affirm the sovereignty of national cinematic thought.
We do not simply watch films. We shape a professional film environment. We believe that strong cinema is impossible without strong, honest and independent criticism.
Sovereignty of perspective and decolonisation of the lens
Professional standard and independence
A bridge between generations and a laboratory of the future
Overcoming commercial snobbery
EXPERTS
Anton Dolin
FILM CRITIC
Writes about Soviet cinema and contemporary debuts
GULNARA ABIKEYEVA
FILM SCHOLAR
Specialist in the history of Uzbek cinema
BIRGIT BEUMERS
DIRECTOR
Documentary cinema, teaches at VGIK
GULBARA TALAMUSHEVA
JOURNALIST
Festival reporting, Berlin and Venice
SHAROFAT ARABOVA
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Works with young directors from the region
JOËL CHAPRON
SCREENWRITER
Screenwriting theory, lecturer
EVGENY MAIZEL
PRODUCER
Independent cinema of Central Asia
NIGORA KARIMOVA
FILM CRITIC
Gender and representation in cinema
CLUB AWARD
This independent award will be presented annually in December based on the results of a general vote by the community’s experts, and will reflect a professional and objective choice from an aesthetic point of view.
LEGENDS OF OUR CINEMA
Critical analyses of classic Uzbek films. Rethinking the Soviet film heritage through a contemporary lens.
CINEMA TRANSIT
Central Asian cinema in a global context. Festivals, co-productions, international connections.
DEBUT LABORATORY
A platform for emerging critics and directors. First works, analyses of graduation films, masterclasses.
REVIEWS
What critics and film publications around the world write about our cinema. Every text opens on the publisher’s own site.