XI Festival of European Cinema Takes Place in Tashkent and Urgench

The grand opening took place on October 22 at the Palace of National Cinematography in Tashkent (formerly the Panorama cinema). The screenings will be held there from October 23 to 25, and on October 27, the program will be presented in Urgench, at the Khudoybergan Devanov Cinema. Admission is free, and the films are shown in their original language with Uzbek and/or Russian subtitles.

The program includes films by directors from Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Romania, and Slovenia: documentaries, psychological dramas, animation, biographical and romantic films. The festival opened with the animated film "Slocum et moi" (The Boat in the Garden) by director Jean-François Laguionie, made in 2024 in cooperation between France and Luxembourg. Its hero, young François, builds a sailboat with his parents in their family garden in a coastal town in the early 1950s. The film was recognized as the best at the Cartoons on the Bay festival, nominated in Annecy and for the Lumière Award.

In addition, the British Council will show a series of short films for students of the Uzbek State University of World Languages and at the MOK HUB cultural space. According to the organizers, since 2013, more than 120 films have been shown at the festival in nine regions of the country.

EU Ambassador to Uzbekistan Toivo Klaar noted at a press conference: "The expansion of the festival's geography beyond the capital has become a good tradition." The Chairman of the Creative Union of Cinematographers of Uzbekistan, Matyokub Matchanov, called joint film production, exchange of experience, and promotion of national cinema abroad important areas of cooperation between Uzbekistan and European countries.