The key facts
- The «Nomsiz» festival will be held in Tashkent on November 13–15 and 18–21 at the MOC Hub venue (77 Buyuk Turon street)
- The program features films by authors from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Germany, the Netherlands, Iran and Australia
- Admission is free, except for the audiovisual performances on November 21
The «Nomsiz» experimental film festival will be held in Tashkent in November
The «Nomsiz» festival of Central Asian experimental cinema will take place in Tashkent on November 13–15 and 18–21 at the MOC Hub venue at 77 Buyuk Turon street (landmark — the «Marvarid» building). This was reported by Gazeta.uz, citing the festival's co-founder and chief curator Alexey Artamonov. According to him, the event aims to give filmmakers, directors and researchers the opportunity to present experimental work on the form and language of cinema.
Selection and central program
This year the organizers received more than 50 submissions; film selection was carried out by an international team of researchers and curators from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The program features works by authors from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as Germany, the Netherlands, Iran and Australia.
Central part of the program
The core of the program is two short film sessions on November 19 and 20, with six films each. As the curator noted, all the authors of these films are women: this goal was not set during selection — it happened as a result of the selection process. The first session is devoted to the possibilities of communication with and beyond the camera, the second to reflecting on loss and ways of connecting fragments of truth and memory. Among the works to be shown are, in particular, «The Lost History of a House» by Sharora Ismoilshoeva (Tajikistan), «The Long Road» by Alina Baytokova (Kyrgyzstan) and «You Know What I Am to You» by Darya Andijon (Netherlands, Uzbekistan).
Retrospectives, archives and performances
In addition to screenings, the program includes retrospectives, presentations of independent archives, lectures, discussions and audiovisual performances. On November 14, researchers and artists from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will talk about independent initiatives to create collections of documents on recent history — «Turkestan Archive», «Zamanbap iskusstvo» and Astral Nomads. On November 15, a lecture by Kazakh independent curator Yulia Sorokina, «Video Art as Media Construction», and the retrospective «Video Art of Kazakhstan: The Curator as Witness» will take place. On November 18, the film-essay program Fragile Architecture with works by Ruzbe Ahbari and Medina Bozorgali will be held. On November 19, the film «Forgotten Cinema: „The Wedding“» by Said Osar Bek and Khamidulla Khasanov will be shown with subtitles in Uzbek and Russian; on November 20 — a retrospective of the Australian collective Karrabing Collective, which brings together representatives of indigenous peoples.
Finale and visiting conditions
The organizers especially recommend that guests attend the series of audiovisual performances on November 21, where live music on electronic and acoustic instruments will be combined with video sequences by visual artists. Admission to the festival is free, with the performances being the exception. The festival is organized with the support of the Goethe Institute in Uzbekistan, the French Embassy in Kazakhstan and the non-profit organization Asia Art Archive.
