Director: Ali Khamraev

Hot Summer in Kabul

A Russian doctor is invited to work at Afghanistan's top hospital during the war, and sees firsthand the carnage caused by the Islamist mujaheddin as they attempt to overthrow the socialist government.

The Seventh Bullet

Despite the restoration of Soviet power in the area, Basmachis continue to arrive from across the border, bringing death and destruction to peaceful villages. One of the bands of rebels is led by Khairulla who is pitted against the militsiya (local militia) leader Maxumov. At first it seems hopeless for Maxumov as the rebels capture most of his men, winning them over to his side. He has only one strategy left; to give himself up, and try to explain to the people that Khairulla has deceived them, turning the soldiers back to revolution. Later in pursuit of his enemy, he chases Khairulla across a river. He has only one bullet left -- the seventh, and he must not miss his target!

Triptych

This intriguing mixture of melodrama and politics is not divided into three parts; the title instead refers to three female characters whose lives intersect in a small town in northern Uzbekistan during the difficult days following World War II. The first is an old woman trapped in a forced marriage; the second is a schoolteacher imposing progress on the remote region; the third, and most important, is Khalima (Kambarova), an illiterate but determined young woman who resolves to build her own house without either her husband's or the state's approval. The film's harsh vision of life in postwar Uzbekistan, as well as its ambivalent attitude toward the conflicting demands of individualism and collectivism, made it the object of official disapproval.