Word: tajikistan
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...westerners, Asia meant Japan in the '80s, China in the '90s; these were the prime areas of an outsider's political and cultural interest. But it's a big continent. Asia also means Iran?arguably the most productive of the past decade?and the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan. Who knew that these countries, familiar to CNN viewers mainly as restive neighbors of Afghanistan, had thriving (or even furtive) movie centers? That's a prime function of Cannes: to inform the world of the impulse, and ability, to make good films in strange places. Look around, in programs outside...
...least Tajikistan is a nation, unlike Palestine. As director Elia Suleiman says, "It's a concept, not a country." Most people would not guess that Palestine had even one filmmaker; if you asked them to define "Palestinian film," they'd say it was newsreel footage of a suicide bomber. And don't even ask about a Palestinian sense of humor. Yet Suleiman's Divine Intervention, which won a jury prize, was one of the most sophisticated and, in its dark way, funniest films at Cannes...
...initially slapstick, then tragic Iranian film Songs of My Mother's Homeland, Kurds pour across the Iran border from Iraq. It's chaos for all concerned - except a peddler whose business is booming. "They bring disease but they also bring money," he says. "God bless Saddam!" The Tajikistan Angel on the Right Shoulder opens on a deserted highway; a man stands there with a sheep. He flags down a taxi; he and his sheep get in. This man, a Muslim, complains to the driver that "the Russians think anyone with dark skin is a bandit." Turns...
...central Asian states where the U.S. now has bases - in addition to three in Afghanistan, there are about a dozen U.S. military outposts (the Pentagon isn't eager to detail its presence in the region) polka-dotting Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - are pleased by Washington's interest. It shows they are truly independent of Russia, and the money's not bad, either (this base alone pumps an estimated nearly $1 million a week into the anemic local economy...
...assistance to leaders like Hamid Karzai, as well as the Tajik disciples of the late Ahmed Shah Massood. The U.S. must work with the new Afghan government to bring dependable chieftains, tribal elders and warlords under the umbrella of the state. It must then ensure that countries like Iran, Tajikistan and Pakistan cut off all aid to belligerent warlords like Dostum and Hekmatyar...