Series Site
Described by critic/filmmaker Kent Jones as a "giant" of Uzbek cinema whose love for the medium puts him alongside the likes of Welles, Godard and Scorsese, Ali Khamraev (b. 1937, Tashkent) is one of the great living filmmakers whose work has been too-little-seen in the western world. Throughout his career Khamraev has exhibited extraordinary artistic range, transitioning from realist social dramas to the "Ostern" ("Eastern") genre of films— which transpose American Western tropes onto the regional history, landscapes and politics of the Eastern Bloc— and settling into a deeply poetic, personal style reminiscent in various ways of his friends and colleagues Sergei Parajanov and Andrei Tarkovsky.
The five films presented in Khamraev's first dedicated New York retrospective exemplify that trajectory and speak to the depth of artistry achieved in each phase of the filmmaker's oeuvre. With keen attention to the Uzbek/Soviet culture clash following the Russian revolution (in particular, the conflict between atheistic and Islamic value systems) and a deep, creative symbiosis with his native landscape, Khamraev's work makes a strong case for the place of Central Asian cinema in the 20th century canon.
Ali Khamraev and actress Gulcha Tashbayeva will be present for post-film Q&As.
Note: The first film in this series, Without Fear, will screen at Anthology Film Archives on November 20, 2025. Click here for information and tickets.