Uzbekistan will abolish the Cinematography Agency, dissolve the existing Uzbekfilm state institution and leave film production to private companies, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at a meeting with filmmakers at the Uzbekfilm studio, UzA reported.
The Ministry of Culture will take over responsibility for state policy on cinema through a new Department of Cinematic Arts. The department’s head will have the status of a deputy minister, and officials have one month to establish the department and wind down the agency and its subordinate organizations.
Uzbekfilm will be replaced by a national film company that will select projects for funding, promote and distribute films, and help filmmakers reach international markets and festivals. The company will not make films itself; production will be left entirely to private studios and filmmakers.
Officials have one week to launch the new company.
The government will also change how it funds cinema. Instead of commissioning films directly, it will provide subsidies to filmmakers and private production companies.
“From now on, the state will be not a commissioner of films, but a reliable partner of filmmakers and the private sector,” Mirziyoyev said.
The new funding system must be introduced within one month. From 2027, the national film company will receive annual budget allocations based on its requests.
A film industry cluster, to be called Uzbekfilm Cinema Town, will be built on Uzbekfilm’s 10-hectare site. The complex will bring together services for film production and include a modern dubbing and sound-recording center.
A design company must be selected within two months to prepare the master plan and cost estimates. Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2027.
Unused state-owned film industry assets will be put up for public auction.
The Kohinur health resort in Quyi Chirchiq district will be transferred entirely for filmmakers’ use. The facility has recently been renovated and modernized.
At least 300 film industry workers will also receive free annual vouchers for stays and medical treatment at health resorts across Uzbekistan.
Mirziyoyev said Kohinur should give filmmakers a place to rest and develop new ideas.
