Eastern notions: celebrating Ali Khamraev

Central Asia remains a great blindspot for many Western cinephiles. That’s why we were so excited to hear about an upcoming season in New York, hosted by the Asia Society in partnership with Anthology Film Archives. Eastern Notions is a celebration of the Uzbek director Ali Khamraev, one of the greats of Central Asian cinema, with more than 20 beautifully varied features during a career stretching back to the 1960s. Running from 20-23 November, the season highlights five of Khamraev’s fiction films, with the great man making a rare appearance in the States to attend in person.

To mark the occasion and to give Khamraev his laurels, host Sam Goff spoke with the season’s curator, Inney Prakash. They discussed Khamraev’s diverse body of work, from so-called “Easterns” to arthouse meditations of family and national culture, as well as his relationship with more famous Soviet auteurs like Andrei Tarkovsky and Sergei Parajanov, and the broader question of curating Central Asian film.

Listeners in New York, don’t miss out: Eastern Notions runs from 20-23 November at Asia Society and Anthology Film Archives.

Read our 2021 interview with Ali Khamraev for further insight into his long and fruitful career.

Klassiki subscribers can watch Khamraev’s 1984 classic I Remember You on the site now.

Get in touch: podcast@klassiki.online.

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Intro music by Juliet Merchant.