Moon Father
aka Luna Papa

Screening: 12 September, 6:30pm

Austria/Germany
1999

Director: Bakhtiyar Khudojnazarov
Production co: Prisma Film, Pandora Film, Thomas Koerfer Film, NTV-Profit/Les Films de L'Observatoire, Euro Space
Producers: Thomas Koerfer, Philippe Avril, Igor Toulstonov
Screenplay: Irkali Kwirikadze, Bakhtiyar Khudojnazarov
Cinematography: Martin Gschlacht, Rotislav Pirumov, Dusan Joksimovic, Rali Ralchev
Editors: Kirk von Heflin, Evi Romen
Production designer: Negmat Dzhuraev
Sound: Rustam Akhadov
Music: Daler Nasarov
Mamlakat: Chulpan Khamatova
Nasreddin: Moritz Bleibtreu
Safar: Ato Mukhamedshanov
Alik: Merab Ninidze
Yassir: Nikolai Formenko
In Russian and Farsi with English subtitles
106 mins
DVD
Certificate TBA

In a masterful and entertaining weave of fantasy and action, poetry and adventure, tragedy and boisterous humour, Bakhtiar Khudojnazarov relates the story of the beautiful young Mamlakat, who dreams of Shakespeare, an acting career, and escape from her obscure dusty village of Far-Khar, lost somewhere between Samarkand and the desolate shores of the Caspian Sea. But the fickle hand of fate touches her, and a rape which she remembers as a romantic moonlight seduction leaves her pregnant and desperate, with no idea of the identity of the cowardly inseminator. After a failed abortion attempt, she breaks the news to her father, setting in motion a madcap quest to restore the family honor. Father, daughter, and crazy brother set out to find the culprit, crossing a land wilder than the Wild West, where Soviet authority has given way to a lawless chaos of bandits and militias. Misadventure follows misadventure, and surprise is the order of the day.

The fast-paced and entertaining action of the film's plot alternates with the soft and poetic voice of Kabibullah, the eventual fruits of Mamlakat's swelling belly. Bringing a child's perspective and innocent humor to a maelstrom of adult events, he urges his mother on, shares her joys and disappointments, and comforts her distress.

Artfully combining the absurd, the surreal, and the comic with the poignant and tragic, Luna Papa is a brilliantly executed film about fate, love, and escape from an impossible reality.

Nicole Guillement, Sundance Film Festival 2000

It's difficult to know whether a new Tajik movie like Luna Papa is pretty much what you'd expect from that neck of the woods, or whether the film which includes a talking fetus and a skydiving bull is an idiosyncratic hybrid of Eastern mysticism and Hollywood schtick. Judging by director Bakhtiar Khudojnazarov's comments, either explanation might be valid. He describes his film as an exercise in "fantastic realism" that examines the Central Asia of today, where tradition and superstition clash with the chaos of the postmodern world.

Tom Lyon, Eye Weekly, 15/2/01

Internet Movie Database listing