4 Best Movies from Turkmenistan to Watch First

4 Essential Films from Turkmenistan

Ranked native cinema in Turkmenistan’s own creative voice.

1. 

   1. The Daughter-in-Law

   Невестка · 1972

   A young war widow lives with her aging father-in-law in the vast Turkmen desert, unable to leave because departing would extinguish their shared hope that her husband, a heroic pilot, might one day return. A spare, poignant Soviet-Turkmen drama.

2. 

   2. Mankurt

   Манкурт · 1990

   A Turkmen warrior defending his homeland is captured and subjected to a torture that erases his memory and identity, turning him into a will-less slave of his conquerors — even against his own mother. A haunting parable of oppression and lost identity.

3. 

   3. The Decisive Step

   Решающий шаг · 1966

   A poor peasant loves a beautiful young woman, but a rich rival with power on his side waits confidently to claim her, and the struggle plays out against the sweep of revolutionary change in Turkmenistan. A Soviet-era historical drama.

4. 

   4. When a Woman Saddles a Horse

   Aýal ata çykanda · 1974

   This biographical drama tells the story of Eyne Kuliyeva, who in the 1920s became the first woman to lead a local government in Soviet Turkmenistan, defying tradition to serve her people. A portrait of a pioneering woman.