Januar 8th MEET THE DIRECTOR: Umida Ahmedova

7.30pm "Men and Women, The burden of virginity and other shorts" af Umida Ahmedova & Oleg Karpov (Uzbekistan, 2006-2010)

VENUE: Museum of Contemporary Art, Staendertorvet 3 A, Roskilde

The Uzbek photographer and filmmaker Umida Ahmedova guests Doxnights and shows documentaries produced in collaboration with her husband Oleg Karpov. There will be an opportunity to discuss the films with Umida Ahmedova after the screening. The films being shown deal with important transitions in an individual's life (circumcision, marriage, first sexual intercourse, funeral, etc.). Umida Ahemedova, Uzbekistan's first female cinematographer, portrays in her films and photographs life in modern Uzbekistan in a way that is a thorn in the eyes of the Uzbek regime. In 2010 she was sentenced for defamation of the Uzbek nation, where she was criticized for having too many villages and old people in her works and for showing women engaged in hard and laborious work and men interested in wrestling and cock fights. Among the main charges were part of the images from the film Men and women - traditions and rituals, a documentary about wedding ceremonies in different parts of Uzbekistan, as well as the film The burden of virginity, which deals with a situation where a bride is sent back to her family because  nobody believes she is a virgin, and shows through interviews the conservative views of official authorities.

Free. English subtitles.