In May, Uzbekistan participated in the 75th Cannes Film Festival with a national pavilion. During the five-day event, the Uzbekistani delegation received more than a hundred guests from different countries, including directors, producers, experts, and stars from the television and film industry. The National Film Commission of Uzbekistan organized the National Pavilion of Uzbekistan, with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the Youth Affairs Agency and the Embassy of Uzbekistan in France. During the days of the national pavilion, the global motivational platform "Uzbekistan's Club" was presented.
One of the platform's projects is O‘zbekistonlik, which was released in March 2022, garnering a lot of interest from the media and general audiences. Additionally, the new Aral Dream project brought the environmental problems of the Aral Sea to the forefront. During the work of the national pavilion, negotiations were held, and memorandums were signed on cooperation between Uzbekistan and experts in the global film industry, as well as representatives of European cinematography.
Within the festival, Uzbekistani representatives made agreements with media companies and directors. In particular, a memorandum was signed with Clara Lee, the commercial director of the London Focus Film Fair, to work together in attracting British producers and directors to film in Uzbekistan. The National PR Center also made agreements with Dirk Vanderijken, one of the leaders of the European Union of Journalists, on joint project implementation. The association expressed great interest in visiting Uzbekistan.
Furthermore, agreements were signed with Canadian and Iranian director Mustafa Keshwari to shoot a film about Omar Khayyam in Uzbekistan. The director will visit Bukhara and Karakalpakstan in July to choose locations, and the film itself will be shot in September of this year. Herve Schneid, the editor of the well-known film "Amelie," expressed his respect for Uzbekistan and his desire for as many foreign film crews to visit Uzbekistan as possible. Adolfo Edoardo Bader, another influential expert in the film industry and representative of the Swiss festival, expressed his support for screening action films in Uzbekistan. Erkin Yilmaz, the director-general of the Film Agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture of the Republic of Turkey, also visited the National Pavilion of Uzbekistan, and discussions were held on the possibility of establishing closer cooperation between the two countries. Former Uzbek director Mikhail Borodin was also a guest at the national pavilion. His film "Продукты 24" (about the fate of migrant workers from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries) was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and won the film critics' prize in the "Panorama" category.
In addition, the delegation of the Portuguese Film Commission visited the Uzbekistan pavilion, and the guests discussed mutual cooperation in promoting Uzbekistan's places in Portugal. Yuriy Artemenko, a well-known producer and vice-president of the Star Media International film company, was also a guest at the National Pavilion, and joint cooperation in the field of streaming platforms is planned.
