Debut with a sequel

A Debut Film and Its Aftermath

A well-known Tashkent journalist, Alexander Tyurikov, who worked in the 1970s-1990s, shared his memories of his involvement in the production of the film "Wolves," released by Uzbekfilm in 1988.

Three thin folders lay on his desk.

"Here are all the scripts I have... Another 'Tahir and Zuhra' and a couple of 'Indian' melodramas..." Firdavs looked at me hopefully. "Maybe you could write something? You're the editor of 'Molodezhka,' right? Something contemporary, relevant, so to speak..."

It was possible to understand the former classmate's remark. Firdavs Zainutdinov had just been appointed head of the creative association "Debut" at Uzbekfilm, dedicated to supporting young directors and screenwriters.

"My fellow directors come over and leaf through the folders... I'd be tempted to start writing them myself..." he complained. Later, Firdavs would start directing himself, and would write some pretty good scripts, but right now he had other things on his mind. "Think about it in your spare time," he suggested.

That day, I happened to be at the studio. I'd never had anything to do with filmmaking—a newspaperman from birth, so to speak...

"I'll think about it..." I promised hesitantly.

It was 1985. A time of change, the beginning of a revolution in our entire familiar world. The central press began to address issues previously considered taboo: prostitution, drug addiction, the mafia... In Uzbekistan, of course, no one wrote or filmed about these things back then, of course.

And leisure was gradually changing, too. The anti-alcohol campaign was just beginning.

Just a few days after my visit to the film studio, my friends and I were sitting over a cup of tea one evening, discussing the pros and cons of this very campaign. Someone mentioned a funny fact: some young people living near the train station had come up with an ingenious way to make money selling alcohol after hours, so to speak—using the station's lockers. The scheme is described in detail in the film, so I won't go into details now.

Then it dawned on me: here it was, the plot for a screenplay!

And then it was all a matter of technique. The script for "Wolves" was written and accepted, and the young director, Sabir Nazarmukhamedov, who had long been anticipating his independent work, began filming.

The premiere took place at the Cinema House. A crowd of people gathered outside the building. I thought: they're showing another American action movie in the main hall. Turns out, no—they've come to see our film.

Sabir, well done, of course! He cast the characters in the scenes who, in real life, were just like the film's characters. And they played superbly! So all those guys came to see their own.

The small hall couldn't accommodate everyone, and the organizers had to start a second screening.

A little more time passed. Firdavs called.

"The management asked me to tell you: the debut was a success, everything was relevant, even bold. They want a sequel. Write 'Wolves 2.'"

I wrote a sequel. Fortunately, the plot allowed for it.

But then—alas...

As Alo Khodjaev, head of Uzbekfilm, later recalled, times began to change dramatically. The USSR State Cinema Committee practically stopped funding the already low-budget studio, and the republican budget only had enough money for cartoons and dubbing.

So my film debut never had a sequel.

But for the others involved in the making of this film, things turned out much more successfully. Tenth-grader Farkhad Makhmudov, a handsome young man who played the lead role, later became one of the most popular actors in Russian cinema, with over 80 films to his credit.

And then-student of the Tashkent Theatre and Art Institute, Timur Bekmambetov, a budding artist at Uzbekfilm, who also visited this set, became a recognized master of not only Russian but also world cinema.

And today, I'm learning a lot about this amazing world, about the truly miraculous things that happen on a film set, from my daughter Olga. She's a film artist by profession and has been successfully working in the American film industry for many years.

But that, as they say, is another story...