Director responded to the statement of the Minister of Culture

Famous Tajik director Barzu Abdurazzokov reacted to the statement of the Minister of Culture Zulfiya Davlatzoda about the cancellation of the play “Mankurt. Requiem”.

Photo: Internet

Barzu Abdurazzokov stated on his Facebook page that the statement of the Minister of Culture of Tajikistan is a verbatim repetition of the conclusion of the artistic council of the Ministry of Culture of Tajikistan from June 6.

The famous director writes that this conclusion fully reflects the intellectual and professional level of those to whom the culture of an entire nation is entrusted. “One average paragraph is enough to understand that everything is over and nothing will happen in the future, neither theater, nor dramaturgy, nor literature, nor ethics, nor morality, nor culture itself, everything, the time of exodus has come!” – writes Abdurazzokov.

Barzu Abdurazzokov reported that just one day after the official closure of the performance, he prepared a 30-page response to the Ministry of Culture detailing his disagreement with the opinion of the artistic council. However, due to the fact that Daleri Imomali, one of the participants in the performance, was detained and placed in a pre-trial detention center, and all other participants in the performance faced threats, he had to temporarily postpone the publication of his response.

In his address, the famous Tajik director urged the Ministry of Culture to learn and not to interfere with people doing their work.

Photo: Internet

On July 12 of this year, the Minister of Culture of Tajikistan Zulfiya Davlatzoda announced that the premiere of the play “Mankurt. Requiem” based on the novel by Chingiz Aitmatov, directed by Barzu Abdurazzokov, was canceled in Dushanbe because it distorted the work.

“The director deviated from the original text of the author, Chingiz Aitmatov, added his own additions, and distorted the content of the work. A performance with such form and content does not correspond to the current internal and external policies of the country and is also unacceptable for the education and upbringing of the younger generation, that is, it was not approved by the artistic council,” said Zulfiya Davlatzoda.

Photo: Internet

Barzu Abdurazzokov said on July 12 in an interview with Radio Ozodi that he did not change the content of Chingiz Aitmatov’s work, but interpreted the setting and the characters to reflect Tajik reality.

“We adapted the work to the realities of Tajikistan and made the plot about the tragedy of a Tajik woman with her son-mankurt. We did not touch on politics. We dealt with the national identity of Tajiks. I still believe that mankurtyzation is one of the important problems of our people. And what they say about the performance not corresponding to internal and external policy is fear of the Russians, what if they get offended,” the director stated.

The performance by director Barzu Abdurazzokov “Mankurt. Requiem” is based on the famous novel by Chingiz Aitmatov “And the Day Lasts More Than a Century…”.

The premiere of “Mankurt” was supposed to take place on the stage of the “Padida” theater on May 20 of this year at 18:00. However, on May 19, the authorities canceled the premiere.

According to Radio Ozodi, in 2009 the authorities did not allow the staging of Barzu Abdurazzokov’s “Madness. Year 93”, which he staged at the Mayakovsky Russian Drama Theater in Dushanbe.

Barzu Abdurazzokov has worked for many years in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. He first went to Bishkek in 2013 and was recognized as the best director of Kyrgyzstan for two consecutive years. In the past, he held the position of director of the Kamoli Khujandi Theater in Khujand and the Tajik Youth Theater in Dushanbe.