2023
Tashkent International Film Festival-I
The First International Film Festival in Tashkent was held from 21 to 31 October in 1968. The Festival was attended by representatives of 22 Asian and African countries.
This Festival became a significant event in the cultural life of the peoples of the Asian and African continents and was marked by a creative exchange of experience and cultural cooperation, peace and friendship among peoples.
The Film Festival was attended by many prominent figures from abroad, such as:
Todor Dinov (director from Bulgaria), Alan Griffiths (Secretary General of the International Writers' Guild, the UK), József Kis (director from Hungary), Magda Kamel (Egyptian actress), Kimura Akira (Japanese actor), Mbissine Thérèse (Senegalese actress).
Prominent progressive filmmakers from Europe and America were invited to the Festival, as well as representatives of five international Film Festivals in Frankfurt am Main, New Delhi, Carthage, Leipzig and Krakow.
In addition, representatives of major international organizations - the UN, UNESCO, as well as special organizations - International Federation of Film Producers' Associations (FIAPF) and the International Writers' Guild arrived in Tashkent.
What films were presented at Tashkent International Film Festival?
-Republics of the Soviet East presented films:
Armenia - Karine, Seven Songs about Armenia.
Azerbaijan - 26 Baku Commissars, Nariman Narimanov, Hello Azerbaijan.
Kyrgyzstan - The Sky of Our Childhood, Manaschi, Castles in the Sand, Soviet Kyrgyzstan
Turkmenistan - Makhtumkuli, Song about the Water, Nomads, The Decisive Step, The Road of the Burning Van.
The other countries showcased the following films:
India - Vacations, My People, Impression of West Bengal, In the Arms of the Bombay Night, Love in Kashmir, Amrapali
Cambodia - The Little Prince, Treavihir
Lebanon - Safar Barlek
Iraq - The One Seeing Good, Tragedy of the People, Temptation to Return
UAE - Postman, The Man I Love
Syria - Lorry Driver, Man 28 126
France - Lion Hunt with Bow
The Festival was inaugurated in the capital's Palace of Arts at 7 p.m. Tashkent time. On the opening day of the Festival, the film Riders of the Revolution by the oldest Uzbek film director, People's Artist of the USSR Kamil Yarmatov was shown on the screen of the Palace of Arts.
Film market, screenings and purchase
The Festival included a film market with the first commercial screenings. In the cinema hall of the House of Knowledge, representatives of the All-Union Sovexportfilm Association showed four following films to foreign guests: Spring on the Oder, Zosia, Three Fat Men and the Soviet-Mongolian film Exodus.
At the first Afro-Asian film show in Tashkent, the Somali film Village and City was awarded with an honorary diploma "For a talented debut" and a commemorative medal. It was the first feature film produced in Somalia.
More than twenty films from Tropical Africa, presented by more than ten countries, were shown at the 1968 Tashkent Film Festival.
On the same day, A. Davydov, Chairman of the All-Union Sovexportfilm Association, and Iranian producer Khadem Ali signed a contract on the purchase of the Iranian film European Bride by the Soviet side.