At the end of last April, the Uzbek fruit and vegetable exporter Global Export shipped 44 tonnes of beans to the world leader in canned vegetables, French company Bonduelle. As the result of a new partnership between the two companies, Global Export’s director hopes to strengthen this collaboration. This article was originally published on Novastan’s French website on May 5, 2021. According to Uzbek media Uz News, the Uzbek company Global Export exported the first batch of legumes during the end of last April with the help of the Uzbek embassy in France and the Uzbek Export Promotion Agency. Supplying Bonduelle more specifically with ‘black eyed beans’, or black eyed peas, this partnership adds France to the list of Global Export’s twenty-six partners, according to its website.

In a comment to Novastan, the director of Uzbek company Global Export Abbos Botirov explained the intent to develop the Bonduelle partnership. “Receiving European partners’ recognition is absolute proof of the quality of our company’s products,” declares Abbos Botirov. “Our company already has strong partnerships with companies in eight European countries. This was also made possible through the setting of international food standards such as FSSC 22000,” added the director.

Global Export desires to strengthen the Bonduelle partnership in the upcoming months

“This recognition from the greatest worldwide vegetable can company shows that our business has started to acquire worldwide status as a trusted partner in producing agricultural goods,” explains Abbos Botirov. As of now, the agreement between the two companies has seen 180 tonnes of beans exported to France. Moreover, the Global Export director see the partnership heading in a positive direction, adding “We expect to significantly increase the volume of exportation to 700 tons per year.” Bonduelle did not respond to Novastan’s request for comment.  

Joanna Blain Editor for Novastan

Translated from French by Emma Bekrine

Edited by Fiona Katherine Smith

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The effects of sanctions against Russia are being strongly felt in Tajikistan. The Central Asian post-Soviet republic’s economy has been stagnant for years and many had left to find work in Russia. The instability in reaction to Russia’s activities in Ukraine is affecting almost every aspect of daily life. In Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital city, life is getting expensive. As American media Eurasianet remarks, Tajikistan is highly dependent on Russia economically, and many families count on remittances from relatives working there. According to World Bank data, remittances consisted of 26.7 % of Tajikistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, which makes it the third most dependent country in the world. With the increasing sanctions being placed on Russia following the on-going conflict in Ukraine, and the subsequent boast to the dollar, almost everything has become more expensive in the past weeks. Feruza, a teacher working at a private university, spoke to Novastan of the impact the changing dollar price has had on her family. “I had to pay the fees for my son’s school a few days ago. Now the somoni is so weak against the dollar; it’s like I’m paying an extra 100 dollars in the previous rate”, she explains.

The fees for international schools can generally be paid in dollars or somoni, but the price is, like most expenses, set by the dollar. “I wanted to pay in dollars but when I went to the bank, they told me that they are not allowed to pay out dollars. I explained it was to pay for my son’s school fees but they said, ‘No, we can only give you dollars with permission from the bank manager, and only if your account is in dollars.’ There were others there with a similar problem”, describes Feruza.

Sending money home becomes more expensive

Generally, people often opt to exchange money on the black market, rather than go to the bank. “You can find a better rate if you shop around, but it’s very dangerous,” Nagina, an office worker from Gorno-Badakhshan, in eastern Tajikistan, explained to Novastan. “My children are living in Moscow and we don’t usually need them to send money home. But if it’s needed, right now it is better to find someone travelling from Russia to Tajikistan, rather than using the bank”, she says. When payments are sent from Russia, they are paid in ruble and received in somoni. Due to the ruble’s depreciation following the sanctions, people working in Russia need to pay extra to reflect the changing price and secure the needed amount of somoni. It is therefore easier and more cost-effective to send dollars in cash with someone making the journey. This current instability is nothing new, as Nagina highlights. “We are experienced. During the financial crisis, it was the same so we know how to prepare. We buy food to store, things like oil or flour which last for a long time. We don’t know when the prices will change again, so we have to be prepared”, she describes. Food insecurity is already a major issue in Tajikistan with up to 27 % of the population living on 1.90 dollars (£1.44) or less per day, according to USAID. While many families received a one-time payment of 500 somoni (£29.16) during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is yet to be announced how the Tajik government will respond to current price hikes.

Prices heavily rely on the dollar

“For me, it has affected my day-to-day costs of course, and my business a little,” import-middleman Alisher explained to Novastan. “People are shopping less. For example, see this iPhone case. Before it was maybe 10 somoni (£0.58), now it’s 16 (£0.93)”, he says. Around the capital, businesses have increased their prices to reflect the new cost of living. A small portion of oshi pilau, Tajikistan’s national dish, typically cost 16 somoni (£0.93) but has risen to as high as 20 somoni (£1.16). Most significantly, the price of petrol from the Russian supplier Gazprom has risen from 10.30 somoni (£0.60 per litre) to 12 somoni (£0.70). “Everything here is connected to the price of the dollar,” Alisher concluded. “The dollar is everything in Tajikistan.”

Fiona Katherine Smith Editor and writer for Novastan in Dushanbe

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At the end of April 2021, the Uzbek produce exporter Global Export shipped 44 tonnes of beans to the world leader in canned vegetables, French company Bonduelle. With this result of a new partnership between the two companies, Global Export’s director hopes to strengthen this collaboration.This article was originally published on Novastan’s French website on 5 May 2021. According to Uzbek media UzNews, the Uzbek company Global Export exported the first batch of vegetables during the end of last April with the help of the Uzbek embassy in France and the Uzbek Export Promotion Agency. Supplying Bonduelle with ‘black eyed beans’, or black eyed peas, this partnership adds France to the list of Global Export’s twenty-six partners, according to its website.

In a comment to Novastan, the director of Uzbek company Global Export Abbos Botirov explained the intent to develop the Bonduelle partnership. “Receiving European partners’ recognition is absolute proof of the quality of our company’s products,” declares Abbos Botirov. “Our company already has strong partnerships with companies in eight European countries. This was also made possible through compliance with international food standards such as FSSC 22000”, he added.

Global Export aims to strengthen Bonduelle partnership in the coming months

“This recognition from the greatest worldwide vegetable can company shows that our business has started to gain status as a trusted partner in agricultural produce,” explains Abbos Botirov. Read More on Novastan: Uzbekistan asked France to be more involved in Central Asia As of May 2021, the agreement between the two companies has seen 180 tonnes of beans exported to France. Moreover, the Global Export director sees the partnership heading in a positive direction, adding “We expect to significantly increase the volume of exportation to 700 tons per year.” Bonduelle did not respond to Novastan’s request for comment.

Joanna Blain Editor for Novastan

Translated from French by Emma Bekrine

Edited by Fiona Katherine Smith

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In an announcement made on September 4, the founder of Xinjiang Victims Database, which gathers information on the Uyghur victims of Chinese repression, stated that he has been banned from entering the territory of Kazakhstan. The reasons for this have yet to be given by the Kazakh government.

This article was originally published on Novastan’s French website on 16 September 2021.

“I’ve been banned from entering Kazakhstan for 5 years. Found out about this just now.” Those are the words Evgeny Bunin used to share the news on his Facebook account from Almaty International Airport, one of the biggest cities in South-East Kazakhstan.

A Russian-American researcher, Evgeny Bunin is famous for creating the database Shahit.biz in September 2018 which has registered next to 24 thousands victims of Chinese repression, notably Uyghurs – largely Muslim, Turkish-speaking people suffering persecution based on ethnic and religious belonging. The NGO Human Rights Watch believes that nearly one million people are being held captive in Chinese re-education camps.

A familiar-looking entry ban

Evgeny Bunin has already been banned from entering a country in the past. In 2019 and 2020, he was denied entry into Uzbekistan. The border guards who gave him official notice that he was not permitted to enter also told him about a “personal ban.” “It all probably started when I met political scientist Anwar Nazir and his journalist and activist friends,” he said in an interview with Fergana News, a Russian media specialized on Central Asia.

He also told Fergana News that he had to leave China for political reasons in 2018. “The Chinese authorities made me leave Kashgar, where I lived at the time. That was done indirectly rather than directly: they closed down the inn that I was staying at. They had everyone go away, but all the others managed to find a place to live, which, for some reason, I couldn’t. Everywhere I went, there were always “good” reasons why I couldn’t stay. Eventually I had to leave Xinjiang; there was no other choice.”

Reached out by Novastan, Evgeny Bunin declined to comment. He stated that he “took a step back from society in May and no longer performs public activities, including interviews.” As of now, it is unclear whether or not such a ban will have an impact on the database, which remains a major tool for accessing information on the Chinese state’s activities.

Joanna Blain Writer for Novastan.org

Translated from French by Andreï Fedorovsky

Edited by Fiona Katherine Smith

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Overexploited, even looted by poachers, Kazakh liquorice is in danger, Traffic International has warned. In a report published in April, the NGO describes a critical situation with the risk of depletion of this slow-to-harvest resource. This article was originally published on Novastan’s French website on 10 June 2021.On 7 April, the NGO Traffic International, in association with the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Kazakhstan (ACBK), released a report highlighting the dangers posed to liquorice reserves in Kazakhstan.By exposing the methods of the intensive and disorderly cultivation of liquorice in Kazakhstan over several years, the authors of this report attempt to warn about the alarming decline in the quantity of wild liquorice and propose concrete solutions to remedy this environmental disaster.

Liquorice, a unique culture

Cultivated since the 19th century in Kazakhstan, liquorice has long thrived in the wild in much of the country. Dried and then processed, liquorice root is used in around 100 different medicines, medicinal preparations or teas. Today it is the subject of ever-increasing international demand.

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The cultivation of liquorice requires very specific conditions. For example, experts from the Kazakhstan Botanical Institute based in Almaty established that liquorice cultivation requires breaks of 6 to 8 years, during which the fields should remain untapped in order to regenerate. On the other hand, according to the same experts, only three-quarters of the liquorice roots should be removed so that the rest of the rhizomes can form new shoots.

Liquorice Poachers

According to the Traffic International report, however, a whole wild harvest economy has developed in Kazakhstan since 2011. There, collection has become uncontrolled and illegal. The biological protocols described by the Institute of Botany are no longer being observed. In the traditional liquorice harvesting areas, the situation now seems to repeat itself every year: wild cullenders are hired without an operating work permit. They raze entire areas and then leave the fields abandoned and looted.

Devastating extraction methods

These liquorice poachers use unsuitable tools that deeply affect the soil and leave little chance for root regeneration. Wild cullenders leave behind destroyed fields in which the immature roots for unsuitable liquorice remain exposed to the sun in immense furrows. Left exposed, the roots wither away when they are not capable of growing back.

These practices are associated with devastating effects on the ecosystem surrounding the liquorice growing areas. Fires are thus started regularly to weed the surroundings of the fields but, in doing so, they destroy neighbouring crops and deprive entire herds of pasture.

Exports and social consequences

The Traffic International report explains this overexploitation with the financial windfall that liquorice cultivation represents for local economies. Often, local cullenders are supporting whole villages.However, this illegal workforce remains largely underpaid: 34 tenges per kilogram of liquorice (£0.05) compared to several euros when exported, according to the United Nations data.According to the United Nation Commodity Trade (UNCT) database cited by Traffic International, the export volume of liquorice root has steadily increased in recent years in Kazakhstan. At its lowest in 2015 with less than 10 tonnes exported, exports reached nearly 90 tonnes in 2019. According to data from Tridge, a specialist on world trade in agri-food, Kazakhstan only holds 70th place among exporters with 2.9 million dollars (2.2 million pounds) of exports, or 0.09% of the total in 2020. The top three are China (27.5% of exports), India (11.4%) and Germany (7%).

A global environmental threat

In addition to the dangers posed by overexploitation of liquorice reserves, the authors of this report add the general deterioration of environmental conditions in the regions where it is cultivated. The construction of several hydraulic dams would thus profoundly modify the hydrological balance of many rivers, while the intensive ploughing of agricultural land and desertification would threaten the entire environment.

Towards more controls

To fight against these threats, Traffic International proposes a series of concrete measures addressed to the Kazakh government as well as to liquorice producers. In particular, it proposes to strengthen controls during illegal harvests, to strictly apply the recommendations of the Institute of Botany and phyto-introduction, or to geolocate precisely the geographical areas where the harvests take place so that the cultivation of liquorice will not be subject to annual overexploitation.More generally, the report by Traffic International underlines that the survival of liquorice reserves explicitly requires the establishment of a long-term sustainable development protocol. Specifically, it advocates for the use of certifications developed by the Fair Wild Foundation, the objective of which is to ensure more ecological, social, and economically viable business practices throughout the production chain.

Emmanuel Purguy Writer for Novastan

Translated from French by Maïté Saïzonou

Edited by Fiona Katherine Smith

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Held on 17 September in Dushanbe, the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) clarified member countries’ positions on Afghanistan. Bringing together China, Russia, and four of five Central Asian countries, the SCO meeting seems to have been a particularly popular occasion for making statements about neighbouring Afghanistan. This article was originally published on Novastan’s French website on 20 September 2021.In Dushanbe, Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries were able to establish what had been unclear since the Taliban’s seizure of power. On 17 September, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), founded in Beijing in 2001, organised its annual meeting in the capital of Tajikistan. At the table were the majority of the institution’s members: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. Joining the meeting remotely were China, Russia, and India.Aside from statements vaunting cooperation among the eight member countries, the Dushanbe Summit made possible an in-depth discussion about Afghanistan. Three of the organisation’s countries sharpened their differences concerning Afghanistan, at the same time presenting a superficial impression of being in accord.

The Push for an Inclusive Government

These three members expressed their desire to see an inclusive government in Afghanistan, according to Tajik media outletAsia-Plus. On 21 September, only a few days after that statement was made, the Taliban announced the new members of their government: only one Uzbek and two Tajiks. These new members are essentially in lower-level positions, or are ethnic Hazaras, as reported by Afghan media Tolonews and the American news agency AP.

The humanitarian situation of refugees was also raised, with SCO members expressing a desire for their long-term accommodation, and for the facilitating of a “dignified, safe, and permanent return to their country,” the communal statement declared.

Uzbekistan: the Most Pro-Taliban Country

But that statement did not erase the differences among the heads of state. True to his role as mediator, Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev suggested that business discussions with Afghanistan were more relevant than ever, according to Russian press agency TASS. The leader of the most populous Central Asian country hoped that high-level meetings between the SCO and Afghanistan would be held regularly, which would amount to official recognition of the Taliban government. Shavkat Mirziyoyev also asserted that Afghan assets in foreign banks should be unfrozen.Unfreezing these assets was also supported by Vladimir Putin via video-conference, reported TASS. The Russian president expressed his desire for international aid to be set up, with most of the cost carried by the United States, who he judged as responsible for the Taliban’s seizure of power. In addition, the Kyrgyz and Kazakh presidents affirmed that a security barrier should be set up around Afghanistan to combat drugs trafficking and terrorism, according to Kazakh media site Tengrinews.Sadyr Japarov and Kassym-Jomart Tokaev have also suggested that humanitarian aid be provided to Afghanistan, and said they are prepared to participate but without providing specific details, Russian media site Sputnik reported.

Tajikistan: Leader of the Anti-Taliban

These fairly amicable positions towards the Taliban were largely eclipsed by bombastic statements by the Tajiki president. According to Emomali Rahmon, the Taliban movement intends to establish autocracy in Afghanistan by installing an “Islamic emirate based on harsh medieval Sharia law,”asreported by Radio Ozodi, the Tajik branch of the American media Radio Free Europe. In line with earlier statements, Tajikistan’s head of state asserted that the Taliban must allow humanitarian aid to be delivered toPanjshir, a province fighting Afghanistan’s new rulers which has been cut off from the world since late July, reported Radio Ozodi. However, the Tajik president’s assertions were most virulent on the eve of the SCO summit, with Dushanbe hosting a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a militaristic organisation directed by Moscow. “The composition of the interim government announced by the Taliban fails to take into consideration political, ethnic, and linguistic diversity, and equality of the sexes. This means that over the course of the next two or three years the propagation of extreme ideology in Afghanistan will increase, and the likelihood that these destructive ideas will spread into adjacent areas will be multiplied,”stated Emomali Rahmon, as reported by Radio Ozodi.Despite expected tensions in the SCO due to the presence of Pakistan, a strong supporter of the Taliban, no conflict arose when the Tajik head of state met with the Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan away from the main stage of the summit, Asia-Plusreported. The two heads of state expressed their shared readiness to facilitate talks between the Taliban and the Tajiks of Afghanistan, and signedeight agreements. 

Afghanistan, a Double-edged Sword for the SCO

More broadly, disagreements among members seem damaging to the idea that the SCO, under the leadership of China and Russia, can take the upper hand in Afghanistan. “The SCO is a very great organisation with numerous unsolved problems among its members, which makes it imperfect,”Konstantin Kourylev, a professor of international relations at Moscow’s Peoples’ Friendship University, told Novastan. In fact, the 2017 admission of Pakistan and India increased dissent, whereas the SCO officially admitted Iran as a separate full member during the Dushanbe Summit, Asia-Plus reported. “So the SCO ought not to be considered a force capable of influencing the situation in Afghanistan. The [member] states alone can be influential, but they are poorly organised and therefore ineffective,” suggested the Russian researcher.That position is not shared by the director of the Institute for European Perspective and Security, Emmanuel Dupuy. “Afghanistan will be a unifying subject for the SCO, since nearly all of its neighbouring countries are members, except for Turkmenistan. The formal admission of Iran as the ninth member confirms this,” he believes in an interview with Novastan. “Furthermore, the flagship countries of the SCO, like Russia and China, are in the process of taking advantage of the American absence in Central and South Asia. Witness the deployment of Russian troops to Tajikistan, the Rubezh-2021 military exercises in Kyrgyzstan, and the planning of the first communal naval manoeuvres by Iran, China, and Russia,” he added.Expanding on this theme, Emmanuel Dupuy suggests that “the strengthening of the SCO is only the first stage of a rocket that will see the strengthening of the CSTO, and no doubt the removal of obstacles to membership for Central Asian countries that up until now have hesitated to join—for instance, Uzbekistan. All this will occur in a context in which Russia will seem to be the lesser evil to Central Asian countries after the American retreat.”Taking a middle path, Ding Xiaoxing, director of the Institute of Eurasian Studies, published an opinion on theSCO site apparently shared by that organisation. “The SCO is an ideal platform for resolving the Afghanistan problem. The organisation can play a part in coordinating members’ differing positions on Afghanistan and their shared encouragement of the goals of internal peace and stability in that country,”he suggested. It remains to be seen how the Taliban will react to the attempts of the SCO to play humanitarian, protective, and diplomatic roles simultaneously, while at the same time being noticeably divided on how to accomplish these goals.

Etienne Combier Editor-in-chief of Novastan

Translated from French by Judy Harter

Edited by Fiona Katherine Smith

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With her most recent documentary, Rhythms of Lost Time, Anisa Sabiri proposes a journey across the most remote regions of Tajikistan, home to the last vestiges of an ancient culture. In an exclusive interview, Novastan had the opportunity to discuss the film with its young Tajikistani director. This article was originally published on Novastan’s French website on 28 September 2021.“Someone said that traditions are like a thread of life carried across time, a link to our ancestors, a sort of code of communication between generations past and future.” With this opening sentence, the theme of the film is set. The 45-minute film was directed by Anisa Sabiri, a young director from Tajikistan. Like an ethnographic work, it captures life’s moments in the most remote areas of Tajikistan, “an unknown country with the fading embers of an ancient culture at its core.” The film was completed while the director was studying in London.

The short film is presented in the second Film Festival of the Calvert Journal in an online stream from 18 to 31 October 2021. The festival seeks to explore current issues relating to Europe, the East, and post-Soviet countries through the eyes of independent filmmakers.

In Search of Ancestral Traditions

Tajikistan is rich and complex in culture, with traditional practices going back to the Zoroastrian era. While some practices remain relatively untouched, others have adapted to some extent to the changing requirements of Soviet, Islamic, and capitalist influences. In the film, which emphasizes musical traditions, local experts and inhabitants of the most remote regions of the country talk about their customs. Music is present in all parts of life, from weddings and fire ceremonies to funerals. The life of these ancient people appears to have always been set to musical rhythms, and this documentary allows us to hear what that might have sounded like. https://vimeo.com/embed-redirect/326313281?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=79782110 In response to a question from Novastan, Anisa Sabiri explains that this film arose out her own experiences. Before becoming a filmmaker, the young director worked as a tour guide for seven years, during which time she visited remote regions of Tajikistan and established links with local people. In this way, she witnessed unique customs and was moved by the deep philosophy of the culture. As a city dweller, Anisa Sabiri is not accustomed to isolated villages, but she fell under the spell of the strong rhythms of this culture, as if they were calling to her. She began to collect and explore ethnographic documents in order to better understand the context and meaning of these practices. Saddened by the danger posed to these traditions, she had the idea to start documenting them, long before picking up her camera.

Unique Practices and an Ethnographic Approach

Shooting took place in 2018 in regions that retained most of the ancient traditions, such as Zarafshan, Fergana Valley, and Badakhshan. In light of the mountainous geography of the area, the journey was not easy, but it was important for the director to “show that the traditional practices persisted, even in Sughd Region,” as Anisa Sabiri explained to Novastan. “Sadly, traditions have disappeared in this region because it is less isolated, and the influences of other cultures and globalization are strong there. So, it’s not that culture differs from one region to another, but rather the way each region reacts to new influences. And as traditional culture is faced with numerous threats, people are reluctant to perform certain traditions,” she lamented. To acquire access to funeral ceremonies in Badakhshan required her to forge trusting relationships with elders in the communities being filmed. “In some cases the success of the shoots depended on the support of the authorities, on communication with the local population, and on personal relationships I had made thanks to my cultural activist predecessors, writer, and tour guide. But, of course, there is always the next step of connecting with individuals and gaining their trust.” The director had to be sincere in her respect for local people and convey her passion for the preservation of their way of life.

On a journey into forgotten traditions, the director and her team transport viewers to the summits of Tajikistan’s mountains to discover maddo: ritual music played when inhabitants of Badakhshan bury their relatives. Here, villagers dance and sing during funerals, not only during weddings. One highlight of the film shows Panjakent in the western part of the country. Anisa Sabiri describes a very challenging moment to film: “What was most difficult was that the two camera operators were men and we had to film the part of the ceremony restricted to women. But the family allowed us to film, and at first we kept our distance. Later, I think everyone forgot we were there.” The situation probably would have gone differently in more conservative regions of Tajikistan, Anisa Sabiri added. Unique in its genre, this transcendent funeral music is particularly fascinating to British musician Leo Abrahams, who heard a recording of it several years ago. Struck by its unusual beauty, he traveled to Tajikistan to witness the enchanting musical experience for himself.

A Precious Heritage Constrained by a Restrictive Law

This film intends to send a clear message to the world: these traditions are now more threatened than ever. The film’s participants, musicians, and historians agree: “We have lost almost everything; we have lost 90% of our entire heritage,” confirms Gulomcho Safarov, one of the film’s protagonists. While the USSR also played its part in the disappearance of such traditions, today globalization and political–religious pressures are causing the last vestiges of this traditional culture to vanish. Since the end of the civil war in 1997, the local population has had to navigate between the rise of authoritarianism and cultural conservatism.

It’s been almost 15 years since Tajikistan’s population has been allowed to weep during funerals or organize a vigil for the deceased, never mind sing or dance. Since 2007, the Tajikistani government has decided what people can and can’t do during key life events and celebrations. The law concerning the regulation of traditions and rituals controls all popular rituals. Even though traditional funeral rites had become less and less common before the law’s adoption, it has played a significant role in their disappearance.

One Perspective on Tajikistan’s History

Anisa Sabiri was born in Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe in 1991, the same year an independent Tajikistan was created after the break-up of the USSR. This gives her a unique vision and approach to the history of her native country, motivating her to capture these endangered traditions that might not be transmitted to the next generation. As a young award-winning author, cultural activist, and photographer, she could not simply remain indifferent to history. The film’s premiere was held in the Tajikistani capital last May, according to Tajik media outlet Asia-Plus. The location was selected by the director due to the film’s main intention: to highlight traditional culture to the local population. The screening’s result was striking, with many viewers saying they had “the impression of having journeyed to another country,” and “they didn’t know these traditions existed,” according to the director.

Her previous film, The Crying of Tanbur, is about the civil war that formed the identities of Tajikistanis born since perestroika, or after 1991. In it she introduces the sound of a ritual musical instrument, the tanbur, “which weeps for the traumas of the new generation.” More widely, the work of Anisa Sabiri aims to better grasp Tajikistani identities, and in Rhythms of Lost Time she goes farther back into the past. The director hopes “to explore the progress the Tajikistani people have made up until now to continue the traditions.” For her, “traditions are the mind and body’s means of expressing identity. As we see in the film, our people have had to endure numerous cultural wars, and every one of them has affected our identity.” Speaking on her future projects, Anisa Sabiri would like to continue to make use of the 30 hours of video and audio collected for Rhythms of Lost Time. She is also working on a feature film set during the last days of the dissolution of the Soviet Union which follows the story of a young woman from a village who tries to liberate herself in the city, but encounters hardships because of her origins and the era’s chaos. Anisa Sabiri remains drawn to questions of identity, conflict, and borders: “I find this theme fascinating, close to my heart, and very timely. Given that I am a Tajik post-Soviet child, raised in a completely Russianized family, I myself also feel this inner-conflict.”

Anisa Sabiri hopes that Rhythms of Lost Time will increase awareness in Tajikistani people and help to create a new model which integrates lost practices into the modern world. One thing is certain: in Tajikistan music and dance have accompanied people in their joy and sorrow throughout centuries. Until a theatrical release in Tajikistan, this documentary is making the rounds in international film festivals such as the Film Festival of the Calvert Journal. It seems, however, that the most meaningful recognition awaits the filmmaker at home, where her fellow Tajikistanis will see the film.

Zoé De Nadaï Writer for Novastan

Translated from French by Judy Harter

Edited by Fiona Katherine Smith

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The post Looking for Rhythms of Lost Time, in Tajikistan appeared first on Novastan English.