2010
November 21st Sunday, 1-3pm	Silk Road House presents "A Sojourn in Romania". Artist Chris Castle and Independent Researcher Yana Womack PhD just returned from an artists' residency in a small village in Romania. They will present some of the stories from their time exploring the 7000 year old prehistoric culture of the Cucuteni, the unique Byzantine painted churches of Bukovina, and the local folk art and traditional rural way of life in Romanian Moldavia. Richly illustrated with visual projections their talk will demonstrate extensions of the Silk Road into this little known yet key part of Europe. Village life in this area carries on today in many ways as it has for centuries. The intimate connection that people have with the land and cycles of nature is reflected too in the decoration of their houses and traditional arts. However, with the entry of Romania into the European Community all of this may well be endangered and soon lost. Archaeological finds in this region include the most sophisticated painted pottery and "goddess" figurines which display a deep devotion to the female principle in nature while their pottery resonates with forms and painted patterns that influenced the development of surrounding cultures. In the same land, yet from a later era, lie the breath-taking monastery churches. They are like jewel boxes exquisitely painted on every surface outside and within with multicolored imagery, distinctly Romanian yet in the Eastern Christian, Byzantine tradition. These themes will be amply demonstrated with slides and anecdotes from the presenters' journey.
November 20th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents a Chinese documentary made by YNTV and Monarex Hollywood Corporation: "Marco Polo’s Silk Road". Directed by Zhou Wei Ping. Written and produced by Chris D. Nebe. Narrated by Louis Fantasia -- the acclaimed author of INSTANT SHAKESPEARE. Music by Zhang Ke. Marco Polo’s Silk Road is the second episode of the MYSTERIOUS CHINA series travels in Marco Polo's footsteps to explore the history of the Silk Road. This is a beautifully filmed production, focusing on the southern Silk Road, which is also known as the Tea Road. It wanders through southern and southwestern China and into the Himalayas. Along the way, the travelers see marriage, harvesting rituals, days of celebration, and so on. The film runs 90 min in English. The screening will be introduced and commented on by Alma Kunanbaeva.
November 13th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents "Georgian Voices: On and Off Stage" - a documentary film which was shot in Georgia, France, Italy, Greece and other countries where an outstanding group of Georgian singers visited and performed during 1987 – 1997. The film was produced in 2004 in Tbilisi. You Must See It To Believe! Seemingly so natural, oral polyphony is not known to all humankind. Georgia, between the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, is about the size of West Virginia or South Carolina. It can be called the Treasure Island of Traditional Polyphony. Maybe precisely the Georgian tradition knows the most developed types of part-singing human being, the Homo Polyphonicus in action. The film gives a rare and bighearted look at the art and life on and off stage of the remarkable vocal group of six men who were born to sing polyphonically. You will see how much are happy those who can sing along and make music together and how happy are those who happen to be next to them: the pleasure of singing together is contagious. The film makes a strong impression that the Renaissance sense of life is still there. The film runs 102 min. The screening will be introduced and commented on by Izaly Zemtsovsky.
November 7th Sunday, 1-3pm	Silk Road House presents a photographic narrative on Central Asia, "Internship in Kazakhstan and Trekking the Silk Road". Peter Fabian, a Stanford University MBA student, interested to learn more about Central Asia, decides on pursuing a summer internship in Kazakhstan. Having never been to the region before, he was surprised to find life there to strongly remind him of his childhood in Czechoslovakia. When his internship was over, he embarked on a solo journey through this remarkable region, crossing all the “stans” and finishing in Iran. Hailing from the Czech Republic, Peter was nine years old during the Velvet revolution which was to change his future forever. Living out of the country since high-school, Peter pursued studies in Norway, USA and UK. After that, he worked in IT industry in the UK, Costa Rica, and most recently in Germany. He has traveled extensively and enjoys being on the road alone with his backpack, getting fully immersed in the world around him. Come hear his story about the journey and do enjoy his pictures!
November 6th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents the movie "Self-Immolation of Water" a documentary film which was shot in the Udora area of the Komi Republic in the North-East of Russian Federation. Directed by Vladislav Mirzoyan. Writer and producer Nadezhda Okorokova. Operator Gregory Yablochnikov. Scientific consultant Dr. Pavel Limerov (Syktyvkar). Music has been taken from Komi folklore as well as from the classic legacy of Christoph Willibald Gluck and Richard Wagner. The film gives a rare look at the life of rural people in the most remote area where during Soviet regime GULAG was created and the harsh persecution of the old-believers took place because the religious people claimed the communist regime is of Antichrist. Two traditional celebrations are colorfully documented – the St. Nicolas Day (May 22) and the St. Parasceva-Friday Day (‘Parasceva’ is the Greek word for Friday, the day she was born) with its unique lavabo of icons (July 26). The film was produced thanks to Fund "Nanook" (Perm) in 1998, and was never shown in the USA. The DVD version was recently made in Syktyvkar especially for the Silk Road House. The film runs 42 min. The screening will be introduced and commented on by Izaly Zemtsovsky.
October 23th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents the movie "Journey Along the Silk Road: The People and Places Along the Railways of Eurasia". Actor Ken Ogata takes you on an archaeological journey down the ancient trading route between China and the West. Also explored are the controversial claims of French sinologist Paul Pelloit (1878-1945), who posited the existence of another route for the Silk Road across great stretches of desert. For the first time ever, foreign cameras retrace the route discovered by Pelliot by traversing an immense desert known as the "Ocean of Sand." This remarkable documentary of two-week journey from Beijing to Istanbul provides a fascinating glimpse into a rarely explored region, opening a window onto the past. Ken Ogata makes a journey by train and on foot starting in Beijing following the Great Wall, continuing west into Turfan in the Xinjiang Uygur region, then to Issyk-Kul Lake, Tashkent, Samarqand, Bukhara, Ashkhabad, Mashhad, Teheran, Esfahan, Yazd, and finally to Kurdish region of Turkey, Ankara castle, Bursa and Istanbul. While the images and meanings aren't fully developed, they slip by as they might in a real trip. Directors: Minoru Kusakabe, Masaya Shimizu. Cast: Ken Ogata. Narrator: Kei Sato. Music: Yukiyo Nakamura. Theme song: “Daichie in the Steppes of Central Asia” (composed by Alexander Borodin). The film runs 120 min in English and Japanese with English subtitles.
October 16th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents "White White Black Stork" by the unique Uzbek Ilkhom Theater (‘ilkhom’ means ‘inspiration’). Based on the novel by Uzbek writer Abdullah Kadyri (1894-1940), the drama “White White Black Stork” is a touching social tragedy, set at the beginning of 20th century in the Old City of Tashkent. This is a retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story, with a twist. Makhzum, a young Muslim from Tashkent who spends his time writing poems and dreaming of storks, is sent to an Islamic college, the Madrassah, to study. When he is caught trying to kiss another boy, his scandal-fearing father decides to marry him off in a hastily arranged ceremony to a girl who is herself already in love with someone else. Strong religious and social traditions ensure that, despite the repeated refrain that they 'have entered the 20th century', grievances between the two families compound themselves and tragedy follows. Carelessly frightening away the storks – their own children, adults broke not nests but lives. Directed by Mark Weil (1952-2007) Co-written by Yolkin Tuichiev (b. 1977). Designed by Shukhrat Abdumalikov. Original music composed by Aziza Sadykova (b. 1978) for female voice, nay (flute), tanbur (lute) and synthesizer. The film runs 100 min with English subtitles.
October 9th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents two Kyrgyz documentaries: 1. Visiting Altyn Kol Filmmaker Daisy Morin presents three short films about Altyn Kol, a women's handicrafts cooperative in Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan. The women of Altyn Kol make and sell authentic Kyrgyz shyrdaks (felt carpets) and other felt products to support their families and communities. Daisy Morin, a freelance documentary filmmaker and recent Stanford graduate, traveled to Kochkor in July 2010 to tell their story. 2. Visiting the open air museum nearby the Burana tower Izaly Zemtsovsky will share his 2009 photographic memories after visiting the unique field of the ancient anthropomorphic stone figures (statues, obelisks) named balbals -- the mystery stelae of the Eurasian steppe. The Burana tower is the 11th century Kyrgyz minaret and one of the first buildings of such type in Central Asia.
August 28th Saturday, 5-7pm	"Flights of Mashrab", the filmed theatrical fantasia based on folklore and poetry. Director Mark Weil, fantasies on the subject of Mozart’s themes by composer Artyom Kim, stage designer Vasiliy Yuriev. A multimedia project dedicated to the 250th anniversary of W.A. Mozart and Dervish Mashrab. Mashrab is a historical figure, a person, who lived at the same time as Mozart, and was endowed with God given talents including a poetic gift, a philosophical gift, and gift of foresight. Some considered him a madman, others – as a genius. Here the creative group of the Uzbek Ilkhom Theater attempts to solve the riddle of this extraordinary personality. The film runs 93 min with English subtitles.
August 22nd Sunday, 1-3pm	"Spiritual Music Traditions of the Middle East", a lecture-demonstration of the sacred music of Sufism (Islam), Judaism, and early Christianity. Demonstrating with the Oud (Middle Eastern Lute) award winning composer, educator and World Music Artist Yuval Ron presents some of the most ancient prayers of the three Abrahamic traditions of the Middle East and discusses how these were constructed, the inter-relationship and mutual influences they share, and the message of unity and peace which his research brings forth. See more at www.yuvalronmusic.com and www.myspace.com/yuvalronensemble. Suggested donation: $10 - $15.
August 15th Sunday, 1-3pm	Silk Road House presents "A Journey to the Center", by Penny Nii, computer scientist and quilts specialist, and Karin Bryant, graphic designer. For thousands of years Central Asia has been a crossroads of human migrations, of empires, of trades, and of cultural exchanges. Yet, it is a center of human history that is remarkably unknown. We went to learn about this region with a Stanford University travel group led by Alma Kunanbaeva and Izaly Zemtsovsky in the Fall of 2009. "A Journey to the Center" is a photographic narrative, a point of view, based on pictures taken by Karin Bryant and Penny Nii. To gain a different perspective, one must make his or her own journey of discovery to this remarkable region called Central Asia.
August 7th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents "Angel On The Right", a Tajik film by Djamshed Usmonov, 2002, 88 minutes, in Tajik with English subtitles. According to Islamic folk legend, an angel on a man’s left shoulder records his bad deeds and the one on his right records the good, and these will be weighed on Judgment Day. Which angel will Hamro, the main character of the movie, listen to?
July 31th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents "Journey from Zanskar" - a new film written, directed and produced by Frederick Marx. Narrated by Richard Gere, and featuring His Holiness The Dalai Lama, the film is being released worldwide this year. Frederick Marx is an internationally acclaimed, Oscar and Emmy nominated producer/director with 35 years in the film business. His film "Hoop Dreams" has won numerous prestigious awards being named the Best Documentary Ever. We’re deeply grateful to Dr. Shirchin Baatar for presenting us a copy of this film. The monks are building a school to educate the children from surrounding villages in their own language, culture, history, and religion. How far would you go to save your dying culture? Geshe Lobsang and Lobsang Dhamchoe, two Buddhist monks fulfill their pledge to the Dalai Lama to help save their dying culture by leading a group of 17 poor but bright children aged 4-12 on a journey from Zanskar in remote northwest India through the Himalayas. To seek an education-- on foot, on horseback, by jeep and bus -- whatever it takes. 30 years ago, when they were children, these monks walked the same path. The 17 children with them now may not return home for 10-15 years or more. This is the story of their incredible journey. A film crew went with them and documented their heroic, remarkable travel. For more information, please visit Film will be presented and commented on by Alma Kunanbaeva. Film is in Zanskari, Tibetan, English, and Hindi with English subtitles. Running Time: 90 min.
July 24th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents "Boz Salkyn (Pure Coolness)" -- the Kyrgyz film, premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2007 (see www.trigon-film.org). Director Ernest Abdyjaparov (b. 1961). Screenplay and film editing by Ernest Abdyjaparov. Music by Ernest Abdyjaparov and Murzali Jenbaev. Kyrgyz people have such a custom when the bride is kidnapped. Asema, a Kyrgyz city girl visiting her boyfriend’s family in the countryside, is mistaken for a villager and accidentally kidnapped by Sagyn, a young shepherd who was too shy to ask the young girl for marriage. After the forceful traditional marriage the newlyweds move to leave among wild mountain nature where they go through various stages of relationship… Authors of the film are asking, is it possible to justify the bride kidnapping if “he” and “she” will create a happy family after that? Film will be presented and commented on by Alma Kunanbaeva. Film is in Kyrgyz with English subtitles. Running Time: 95 min.
July 17th Saturday, 5-7pm	Silk Road House presents "The Desert of Forbidden Art", the award-winning documentary film, written, produced and directed by Amanda Pope and Tchavdar Georgiev. This story of how Igor V. Savistsky (1915-84), a Russian painter, archeologist and collector, stashed more than 44,000 censored Soviet Union paintings into the Nukus Museum is a hidden corner of Uzbekistan, in the remote Kyzylkum Desert, on the shores of the Aral Sea, — is a portrait of defiant vision blended with tremendous contemporary art. In viewing the collection, it’s no overstatement to say — as did New York Times reporter — that an entire chapter of art history should be rewritten due to these works. Dubbed 'Le Louvre des steppes' by Télérama magazine, the museum houses a collection of about 90,000 items, ranging from antiquities from Khorezm to Karakalpak folk art, Uzbek fine art and, uniquely, the second largest collection of Russian avant-garde in the world. Although the ancient Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva may be better known, the Nukus Museum is in fact the fourth splendor of Uzbekistan. Indeed, the Savitsky Collection has been called "one of the most outstanding museums of the world" by the UK's Guardian newspaper. With its impeccable research, exquisite cinematography, and flawless editing The Desert of Forbidden Art is storytelling at its best, and affords an otherwise impossible entry into this dazzlingly creative and colorful world. Both the collection and the film are brilliant. Unfortunately, due to political and economic conditions in Central Asia today, the Savitsky Collection could cease to exist in its present form at any time. Authors hope this film will function as an advocacy tool and a catalyst to protect this unique 20th century cultural institution. Film is in English and with English subtitles. Running Time: 80 min.
June 27th Sunday, 1-3pm	Silk Road House presents "Tuva: Shamans and Spirits" by Thomas and Tamia Andersen. In 1993, Tom and Tamia Anderson were invited to participate and document a conference to help reintroduce traditional shamanic practice into Tuvan culture after many years of Soviet repression. The resulting 55 minute documentary also covers travels throughout the countryside of this republic of Russia sometimes called the Switzerland of Siberia.
June 19th Sunday, 5pm	Silk Road House presents "Mustafa Shokai" (Kazakhfilm 2008). 144 mins. Director Satybaldy Narymbetov, composer Kuat Shildebaev. Main actors: Aziz Beishenaliev, Karina Abdullina. Satybaldy Narymbetov’s Mustafa Shokai is the first historical blockbuster of post-Soviet Kazakhstan. Mustafa Shokai (1890-1941) was born in Perovsk (now the village Aulie-Tarangyl) in the Turkestan Krai of the Russian Empire. He was not destined to be a peripheral figure; his maternal ancestors were part of a line of Kazakh khans of the Khiva khanate. He was a Turkestani nationalist when there was no longer a Turkestan, and he emerged as a key political actor at a moment of revolutionary transformation. He served at various times as a member of the Shura-i-Islamiya (Muslim Council), as the leader of the Provisional Government of Autonomous Turkestan (or Kokand Autonomy movement), and as a delegate to the First All-Kirgiz Congress in Orenburg where they created the first Kazakh political party, Alash Orda. Yet he ultimately lost touch with the political realities of Central Asia that centered on compromises between religious elites and Bolshevik officials and he left the Soviet Union for Europe. Mustafa Shokai is relatively well known by western scholars of Central Asia since he was a leading critic of Soviet politics and he provided a valuable link to scholars who were increasingly restricted from the region in the 1920s and 1930s. Nevertheless, Mustafa Shokai has always been a problematic and controversial scholar due to his political biases and his role in the drama he helped document. His advocacy for Turkic unity was conflated with inflated Bolshevik polemical attacks against “Panturkism” and “Pan-Islamism,” which were always inadequately defined. The Soviets accordingly accused him of backwardness, elitism, and religious bias yet the debates over the political struggle for Central Asia masks the success of the Soviets project to provide an identity that replaces existing frameworks (local, tribal, religious) in Turkestan. (Text courtesy Michael Rouland, New Russian Cinema: Kinokultura, Issue 25 (2009) http://www.kinokultura.com/2009/25r-shokai.shtml) SRH screenings are introduced and commented on by Alma Kunanbaeva
May 16th Sunday, 1-3pm	Silk Road House presents "The Borrowed Kazan: Food, Art, and Everyday Life at the Bazaar in Osh, Kyrgyzstan" by Daniel Gallegos, Jerome Waag, and Zhanara Nauruzbayeva. The Borrowed Kazan is a collaborative art project to open a small restaurant in the middle of the bazaar in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia for a week in September 2009. Osh is a 3000-year-old city at the edge of the Ferghana Valley, an agricultural oasis situated on the ancient Silk Road. Through preparing and serving the food coming from the surrounding vendors, we investigated the local food system and its larger cultural context. We also consider the restaurant as an art installation resulting from a joint effort with the local artistic and food communities. DANIEL GALLEGOS is a visual artist interested in urbanism and works at Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkeley, CA. JEROME WAAG is an artist interested in social architecture and a chef at Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, CA. ZHANARA NAURUZBAYEVA is an anthropologist writing about visual artists in Central Asia and finishing up her PhD dissertation at Stanford University, CA.
April 18, Sunday, 1-3pm	Silk Road House presents "An Introduction to the Sacred Musical Practice of the Kurdish Ahl-i Haqq of Guran" by Partow Hooshmandrad, Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the UC Berkeley. As a scholar and a performer, Partow specializes in the devotional practices of the Ahl-i Haqq of Guran including the musical repertoire, the texts, and the rituals; as well as Iranian classical music. She has won several prestigious awards for her research endeavors and is currently teaching at California State University, Fresno, Departments of Music and Linguistics. Before that, she taught at the University of Kurdistan, Hawler, in the Federal Region of Kurdistan, Iraq. This presentation is on the sacred musical practice of a distinct Kurdish faith. It concerns the practices of the Ahl-i Haqq, whose purest expression is found in the Guran region of the Kermanshah Province in Iran. As a unique form of religious expression, Ahl-i Haqq adherents believe in the sevenfold and cyclical manifestation of God’s power, called Haftan, ranging from an original stage of nothingness to an ultimate state of absolute oneness. Although respectful of all religions, Ahl-i Haqq is not by definition a branch of Islam, a representative neither of orthodox or heterodox religious observance. While the main focus of this presentation is the repertoire, for the purpose of perspective I will also discuss the sole musical instrument tanbur, the sacred texts, and the rituals of the tradition. In this respect, musical chants (nazms) are discussed according to the way they are perceived: as a finite collection of melodies and the prescribed manner in which the texts fit the vocal rendition of the melodies. These nazms are not seen as models for composition and improvisation. Further, I will point to the cosmological significance of ritual practices, emphasizing the practice of music-making, for realizing an absolute state of purification to invoke the presence of the Divine King, Sultan. This presentation is based on an extended period of fieldwork (2000-2002) conducted in the vicinity of the city of Kermanshah, that has continued to the present.
April 11, Sunday, 1-3pm	Silk Road House presents "Migrations and Excursions through the World Pattern" with Christopher Castle. Christopher Castle presents the story of his artistic journey from the stones of Old Europe to the soils of the Bay Area. On the way, he demonstrates the influence of place on our everyday awareness. Recently his explorations have brought him to the concept of the World Pattern and the etchings now on exhibit at the Silk Road House. Drawing connections across cultures, he traces the local and universal fields of natural energies that give rise to specific visual and musical motifs. These themes will be illustrated during his talk with examples of his paintings, prints and music. Christopher Castle is a British-born visual artist and composer. He exhibits his paintings and prints widely in the U.S. and Europe. His work is represented in many public collections such as the British Museum, London, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the Scottish and Welsh National Museums, the Achenbach Foundation, and private collections worldwide. Castle’s work focuses particularly on the sense of place through investigations into the subtle elements of landscape and people’s relationship to nature expressed in their art and architecture. As an important adjunct to his explorations in the studio and outside on the land, he works with community groups and schools to create art expressing their own environment. His recent work includes commissions for the Park Service and several East Bay School Districts.
March 7, Sunday, 1-3pm	Silk Road House presents "Symbolic Language of Russian Embroidery" by Irina Zhoukova Petrova. For Irina Zhoukova, traditional Russian clothing and embroidery is a part of her family heritage. For about seventy years (from the 1840s till 1910s) her ancestors had had a family business in making outfits and ritual needlepoint for peasants of nearby villages. From her early childhood Irina was taught in Russian embroidery: ancient techniques (not cross-stitching), symbols, etc. Twenty years later, she joined the group of historians and ethnographers of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg working with them during seven years. Living now in San Jose, Irina is working as a costume designer and is writing a book on the symbolic language of Russian embroidery. See more at her website www.traditionalrussiancostume.com . Besides, Irina is a member of the already well-known local Russian House Kedry that creates a venue for development and support of linguistic, artistic, and music traditions in households where Russian language is a part of their family culture. In traditional peasants’ culture, embroidery has never been just a decoration. In her presentation, Irina will show and describe twelve main pictographs and compositions, discussing some hypotheses of their meanings and pagan roots.
February 28, Sunday, 2-4pm	SRH welcomes a unique dance and slide presentation, "Dancing through Uyghur Autonomous Xinjiang", by Tara Catherine Pandeya. Tara is an international performing artist, teacher and choreographer who specializes in Central Asian dance forms. In addition to choreography, adult dance classes and workshops, Tara also works with several award winning arts education programs in the Bay Area. Most recently, she completed a four month dance residency in Uyghur Autonomous Xinjiang, China. Along with studying Uyghur, Kazakh and Uzbek dance at the Xinjiang Arts Institute, she conducted dance research with traditional artists and was also fortunate to travel to the Takla Makan desert capturing footage of traditional 'meshureb' (community dance and music). At SRH, she will be presenting some dance and pictures from her Uyghur trip.
February 21, Sunday, 1-3pm	SRH presents the exhibit: THE WORLD PATTERN: ETCHINGS BY CHRISTOPHER CASTLE, a British-born visual artist and composer. He exhibits his paintings and prints widely in the U.S. and Europe. His painting and etching studio is in Emeryville. The exhibit includes twelve patterns that are related to the Silk Road. All works are available for purchase. The price list is at SRH and by email castle.art@sbcglobal.net upon request.
Various dates	In 2010, Silk Road House presents: Documentary Films of Central Asia: Two Epochs of National Identity Formation The Silk Road House of Berkeley continues the screening of rare Central Asian films. The new DVD collection is the second part of the project initiated by the Open Society Institute. If the first part of the collection included ten feature films – two films from each Central Asian country – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, then the second part includes seventy documentary films from the entire region. Both DVD collections have been prepared by Gulnara Abikeyeva, director of Public Fund “Center of Central Asian Cinematography”. The aim of the project was to present to the world community the films of Central Asia of two periods -- the Soviet 1960s “Thaw” period as well as the 1990s period of Independence, which was more fruitful in the documentary sense. Those films are hardly known abroad. Ten films of the first part of the project, introduced and commented on by Alma Kunanbaeva, were shown at the Silk Road House in Berkeley during the last year. This year Alma Kunanbaeva will be screening the documentary part of the project. Screenings with discussions will take place at SRH by Saturdays at 5pm according to the following schedule: February 6 – The Kazakhstani documentary films of the 1960-80s February 20 – Documentary films of Kyrgyzstan of the 1960-70s February 27 - Documentary films of Uzbekistan of the 1960-80s March 6 - Documentary films of Tajikistan of the 1960-80s (beginning with a unique film of 1929) March 13 - Documentary films of Turkmenistan of the 1970-80s April 10 - The Kazakhstani documentary films of the 1990s April 17 - Documentary films of Kyrgyzstan of the 1990s April 24 - Documentary films of Uzbekistan of the 1990s and 2000s May 1 - Documentary films of Tajikistan of the 1990s and 2000s May 8 - Documentary films of Turkmenistan of the 1990s (Films of Velmurad Ovezov) A complete list of films is here. All films have English subtitles. All events are free and open to the public. These screenings became possible thanks to a generous gift of the Open Society Institute, Budapest.
January 30, Saturday, 5pm	Silk Road House presents "The Gift to Stalin" (Kazakhstan, 2008) An Aldongar production, in association with Tor Films, Kazakhfilm. Produced by Boris Cherdabayev. Directed by Rustem Abdrashev. Screenplay by Pavel Finn. Music by Kuat Shildebaev. Cast: Nurjuman Ikhtimbayev, Dalen Shintemirov, Yekaterina Rednikova, Bakhtiar Khoja. Russian, Kazakh, Hebrew dialogues with English subtitles. "The Gift to Stalin" is a story about an eight-year-old Jewish boy Sasha who was sent to Kazakhstan. He was saved from death by an old Kazakh man, Kasym, who takes him to an aging shaman who returns the boy to full health and dubs him Sabyr which means `tolerant, uncomplaining'. Subsequently, Kasym and Sabyr reside in a dusty village of refugees… The film is set in 1949. The title, The Gift to Stalin, has two significances. In 1949, Soviet government carried out a nuclear test for anniversary of Stalin's 70th birthday. Many innocent people became the victims to the nuclear test. The other significance is about Sashka's dream. He hoped that if he gives Stalin a gift, he will be able to see his parents again not knowing that they were killed. SRH screenings are introduced and commented by Alma Kunanbaeva.
January 10, Sunday, 1-3pm	Silk Road House presents "Manifestations of Islam Among the Kazakh and Turkmen Populations of Central Asia", a lecture with slides by Gulnar Kendirbai, Adjunct Assistant Professor of History, The Harriman Institute/History Department, Columbia University, New York. Gulnar Kendirbai specializes in Eurasian and Central Asian intellectual history, involving the late Russian empire and the former Soviet Union. Her research and teaching interests also include colonialism, nationalism, ethnicity, Islam, nomadism, and cultural anthropology. She received her two PhDs from the Eotvos-Lorand University in Budapest (1987) and the University of Tuebingen in Germany (2003). The last one was entitled as "Bridging Colonial Gaps: Kazakh Intellectuals and the Imperial State". She is the author of "Land and People: The Russian Colonization of the Kazakh Steppe" (Berlin, 2002, in English). She also published her papers in the Encyclopedia "The Turks", Central Asian Survey, Nationalities Papers, Asian Affairs, Central Asiatic Journal, Inner Asia, Jahrbucher fur Geschichte Osteuropas, and other journals. She has received fellowships from the Fulbright Commission, the American Councils (ACTR/ACCELS), the DAAD, and the Thyssen Foundation in Germany. Currently she is working on a book "Challenging Colonial Power: A History of the Kazakh National Movement Alash, 1905-1938".
For the 2009 events, go to here.
For the 2008 events, go to here.
For the 2007 events, go to here.