ABSTRACT
While the number of Central Asian films seen by Western audiences is small, international film devotees have long recognised the artistic merit, powerful sociocultural significance and cinematography of many of the films produced in the region. The early origins of the rich decades-long tradition of filmmaking in Central Asia largely reflects orchestrated political efforts aimed at regime consolidation and identity construction rather than purely commercial catering to audience predilections as would be the case in Western cinema. However, beginning in the Khrushchev thaw of the 1960s and again in the perestroika and post-independence eras, filmmaking in much of Central Asia forged its own identity, and to a great degree transcended the norms of Soviet-era cinema. This chapter seeks to provide an overview of Central Asian cinema, its historical development and the political and socio-economic context within which it has emerged.
