Best Uzbek Movies: 10 Films to Start With
Uzbek cinema rarely comes up in global film conversations, but it has its own, distinct story — from dramas about moving to America to recent premieres about pilgrimage and honor. We picked 10 films from Kinogram's catalog that honestly show what Uzbek cinema is about today and how it has changed over the last twenty years.
Sogdiana (2006, dir. Bahrom Yoqubov). Rustam is a wealthy young man who runs his company by day and lives from party to party by night, until he meets Sogdiana, a dancer adopted as a child by a former prisoner. A real connection sparks between them, but Rustam's family opposes the marriage, and her adoptive father carries a difficult past of his own. One of the best-known Uzbek melodramas of the 2000s.
Kelgindi Kelin (2006, dir. Rustam Sagdiev). A girl from a wealthy family of doctors falls for a simple village student who barely notices her. When he returns to his village, she unexpectedly turns up at his home — claiming to be his fiancée, and pregnant. A light romantic comedy with a twist typical of Uzbek cinema of the era.
Is This A Paradise? (2009, dir. Ravil Batyrov). Khanum, her husband, and their whole family decide to emigrate to America in search of a better life. The film doesn't hide the other side of emigration — the money is saved, the country is far away, but happiness isn't guaranteed to anyone. A theme that hasn't lost its relevance for Uzbek audiences.
In Life... (2015, dir. Yalkin Tuychiev). A scientist loses his only child and soon after adopts a boy with the power to heal people. A drama with a touch of mysticism about staying true to your principles even as the world falls apart around you.
Don't Let Dad Know (2016, dir. Jahongir Ahmedov). A group of kids find out their parents are planning to divorce and do everything they can to keep the family together — in secret, through a string of comic mishaps. One of the few films on this list shot as a pure family comedy.
Hot Bread (2018, dir. Umid Khamdamov). Teenager Zulfiya lives in a village with her grandmother while her mother works in the city. The film is about the injustice a child sees around her and the desperate wish to be with her family again.
Born Out of the Ashes (2019, dir. Abduvahid Ganiev). A historical epic about the Mongol invasion and resistance on the territory of present-day Uzbekistan. The biggest production on this list, and a rare example of Uzbek historical cinema at this scale in the catalog.
Alteration (2022, dir. Yalkin Tuychiev). A young man from Uzbekistan is drafted into the Soviet army and ends up in the middle of active combat. A war drama about how conflict changes a person — and the long road home to Uzbekistan, years later.
Farz (2025, dir. Sarvar Karimov). An honest craftsman and his wife spend years saving for the Hajj — and give it all up to help a late friend's homeless family. The act brings envy and false accusations, testing his faith and integrity. One of the freshest and most talked-about Uzbek releases of 2025.
Sunday (2025, dir. Shokir Kholikov). An elderly couple lives a quiet life in the village: their eldest son lives nearby, their youngest works abroad. A quiet, observant drama about generational conflict that will feel familiar to almost any Uzbek family.
Start with Farz for a contemporary story about honor and conscience, or with Sogdiana to see what Uzbek cinema looked like twenty years ago. Every film here — with its synopsis, year, and availability — is in Kinogram's catalog.
