11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

customs provide the focus. A contemporary narrative that celebrates cultural traditions by foregrounding carpet-weaving, dress and folk music, Melody tells the story of a musician recording birdsong in the forest. The titular character’s savvy use of birdsong to create a sublimely beautiful musical composition acts as a bridge between esteemed cultural traditions and new technology. In a region that won independence just over 30 years ago and is still subject to external powers competing for influence, Kyrgyzstan has produced two filmmakers who explore the value of tradition in society. Aktan Arym Kubat makes films concerned with the loss of culture, particularly the juxtaposition of traditional Kyrgyz spiritual values involving family connection with what he deems as damaging external forces, such as restrictive Islamic religious influences, and political and societal corruption. Kubat wrote, directed and performed the lead role in This is What I Remember 2022, a story of homecoming and human connection. In the film, Kubat plays an old man, who after being missing for many years is unable to speak after he is found and brought home by his son. While the sobering film explores the themes of corruption, the abuse of women and the degradation of the natural environment, it is the sustenance provided by family ties that is the heart of the narrative. Kubat also subtly acknowledges the climate of religious conservativism and the repercussions of criticising religious and political structures in his film. In speaking about This is What I Remember , Kubat positions himself as someone working in a ‘post-Soviet’ space, characterising the theme of love in the film as a ‘fragile hope’, and questioning ‘whether morality can be preserved in this ruthless and callous world of mankurts (those who lost their historical memory, roots, spiritual values)’. 2 However, not all Central Asian filmmakers mourn this loss of cultural tradition. Another powerful example of reckoning with the theme of tradition versus modernity comes from writer–director Mirlan Abdykalykov and his acclaimed film Bride Kidnapping 2023, which is a re-examination of cultural practices and the treatment of women in contemporary Kyrgyzstan. On the scrappy outskirts of Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, 19-year-old Umut is a nurse who lives with her parents and dreams of study abroad. On her way home from work one afternoon, she is abducted from the street into a car by a group of unknown men, whose intent is to force her into marriage. Abdykalykov brings into sharp focus the experience of women caught up in this ancient, but enduring, custom, and the film is a thoughtful and powerful protest to end this barbaric practice. 3 In a climate of conservative politics, artists and filmmakers are mindful of subjects that are frowned upon or outright forbidden. In Central Asia, governing bodies set the tone for what is acceptable within film narratives; however, previously taboo topics are slowly emerging in the contemporary filmmaking of the region. In recent years, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have moved closer to functional democratic rule and more open societies, while Uzbekistan and Tajikistan tend toward Soviet-era restriction. The Kazakhstan government has recently declared its dedication to fighting corruption, and filmmakers are taking advantage of this focus to draw attention to the destabilising influences of corruption in daily life. Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s Sary mysyq ( Yellow Cat ), which was widely acclaimed on the international festival circuit upon its release in 2020, is a bleakly humorous and irreverent critique of the ‘wild west’ environment of the rural steppe in Kazakhstan, in which cruel gangsters, corrupt police, brothels and pimps are assumed staples of daily life. Both seasoned and emerging filmmakers look to the past by exploring experiences of Soviet-era rule, an undertaking that until recently would have been unthinkable. Young Kyrgyz director Aisultan Seitov sets his stylised survival horror Qas 2023 amid the brutal famine of the 1930s, which was brought about by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s rapid collectivisation of farms. The Uzbek film 2000 Songs of Farida 2020, written and directed by Yalkin Tuychiev, charts the tumultuous time of the Soviet incursion into Central Asia in the early twentieth century. 4 Rather than dwelling on the atrocities of war, the film instead hints at what lies ahead for its beleaguered characters. The film grapples with this dark period of Uzbekistan’s history by framing the narrative within a family drama in which a man and his four wives live in the remote steppes. Far removed from the frontline, they rely on people passing through for news of the war. When the family encounters a soldier who has fought the Soviets, he warns the man that they are worse than previous invaders, telling him ‘they are like death’. Another example of Central Asian filmmakers challenging conventional values involves their questioning of the treatment of women in contemporary society, with films from several countries highlighting women’s stories. The film Ayka 2018 by Sergey Dvortsevoy, whose first feature Tulpan 2008 won the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, is set in Moscow where 20-something Kyrgyz migrant Ayka lives such a precarious existence that only hours after giving birth, she breaks out of hospital to return to her job plucking chickens. Ayka highlights the insecure lives of illegal immigrants, particularly women, who are often exploited when they seek employment across the border in Russia. While many filmmakers are foregrounding women’s stories, there are still very few women working in Central Asian cinema. Aizhan Kassymbek, director of Fire 2021, is one of a small cohort of women working behind the camera in the region — she also works predominantly with female crew members. Describing her method of working and the current state of the film industry in Kazakhstan, Kassymbek has said: Not only in Kazakhstan but across the world, cinema is a patriarchal system. When I shot my debut film, we involved an editor and a production designer who were also women . . . I didn’t really choose to work with women, no one else wanted to work with us. They thought we weren’t serious. Now, because of the rule that was brought in with the Oscars about gender balance, things are changing. I can’t say that men are passionate about working with us, but if they want to go to A-class film festivals or the Oscars, they have to invite us. 5 In Central Asia, the loosening of cultural taboos and the increased agency of filmmakers to tell their own stories have encouraged a creative cinematic outpouring over the last 20 years. It is a time of growth, and a dynamic moment for independent voices to be heard as filmmakers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are beginning to find their way onto the international stage. ROSIEHAYS NOTES 1 These four nations with their unique languages and cultures were invaded by Russia and became part of the Soviet Union in 1918. In 1991, they each declared independence beginning a significant new chapter in their history. 2 This is What I Remember 2022 [ Diversion media kit], QAGOMA Curatorial Artist File. 3 Although bride kidnapping is illegal, the law is rarely enforced, and the film notes that every hour a woman is kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan. 4 The film is set during the civil war that followed the 1917 Russian Revolution; see Serge Rakhlin, ‘2000 Songs of Farida (Uzbekistan)’, Golden Globe Awards , 12 January 2021, <goldenglobes.com/ articles/2000-songs-of-farida-uzbekistan/>. 5 In 2020, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who administers the Academy Awards, introduced new eligibility reforms for the Best Picture category, aiming to encourage equality and diversity. The new criteria require a designated percentage of underrepresented groups to be involved in a film, both on-screen and behind the camera. The criteria define under-represented groups as women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people or people with a disability. The reforms announced in 2020 came into effect in 2024. See Sam Goff, ‘ Madina : Aizhana Kassymbek on shooting women’s stories in a changing Kazakhstan’ [interview], Klassiki , 25 April 2024, <klassiki.online/madina-aizhan-kassymbek- womens-stories-kazakhstan/>, viewed June 2024. Production still from Sary mysyq ( Yellow Cat ) 2020 / Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov / Digital, colour, stereo, 90 minutes, Kazakhstan, France, Russian/Kazakh (English subtitles) / Image courtesy: Arizona Productions CINEMA 226 — 227