ANST 240 - Central Asian Politics & Film

Unit(s): 2

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, five independent states have emerged in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The aim of this class is to examine and discuss the specific contributions made to the process of nation-building in these states by national cinemas. The films produced or sponsored by the film industries of the five post-Soviet Central Asian states will be analyzed and discussed in detail. It will be seen that these films do not bring into being a single or monolithic national identity, but instead offer the multiple, contentious visions of nationhood, depending on whether they emphasize the ethnocentric, civic, or socioeconomic dimension of communal life.

College of Arts & Sciences