Nagota

Zamira is festively attired, singing in a choir. A line from a love song poses the question “What is my purpose in life here on earth?”, becoming the guiding theme of the film. Zamira’s daughter Sabina asks it of her mother, she asks it of the public behind the camera – and of herself. The question is not meant to be religious, nor moralistic, but analytical and revealing, and Sabina meticulously lists all the unspoken, contradictory and misogynistic things she perceived growing up as a girl in Uzbekistan. Powerful, deforming, accepted – naked truths hang in the air that women live in. The question is not answered, the film follows a different track: the daughter accompanies her mother through everyday life and a narrative unfolds where observations contradict what has been said. It seems possible to make yourself happy, to counter the social impositions with other images, to show solidarity. Sabina Bakaeva’s debut film, made in a workshop at Tashkent Film School, is an open, courageous portrait of women and an unadorned journey through the experiences of different generations of Uzbek women.