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A dedicated film production complex spanning ten hectares is to be built on the grounds of Uzbekistan’s national film studio, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced on 26 October, setting out a sweeping restructuring of the country’s state-backed cinema sector that reaches from construction timelines to welfare benefits for film workers.
The complex, to be called Kinogorodok Uzbekfilm — Film City Uzbekfilm — is intended to consolidate production services and technical infrastructure on a single site. A design organisation is to be selected within two months to draw up a master plan and project-cost documentation, with construction scheduled to begin in March 2027. Unused state assets in the film sector will be put to open auction.
Dubbing Centre and Industry Overhaul
Among the facilities planned for the complex is a dubbing and voice-recording centre equipped with modern technology. The announcement comes as the broader Uzbekfilm organisation undergoes institutional change: two existing industry bodies — the Association of Cinema Figures and the Association of Film Industry Representatives — are to be merged into a single Chamber of Representatives of Uzbekistan’s Film Industry. The new chamber is to handle copyright protection, professional interests, sectoral self-governance and support for young specialists, including financial and organisational assistance for training abroad. Its formation is to be completed within one month.
A Club of Film Scholars will also be established to develop research, analysis and professional film criticism. Uzbekfilm is expected to support its work and help build ties with the International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI.
Sanatorium and Welfare Provisions
The Kokhinur sanatorium in Kuyichirchik district, recently renovated, is to be transferred entirely to film industry workers for rest and medical treatment. Mirziyoyev proposed that the facility serve not only as a recuperation site but as a space for creative work. Separately, at least 300 film industry workers per year will be entitled to free sanatorium vouchers at facilities across the country.
The scale of the announcement — covering physical infrastructure, institutional consolidation, intellectual property governance and worker welfare in a single address — reflects the priority the presidency has placed on transforming Uzbekfilm into a functioning national brand, a goal articulated publicly by Saida Mirziyoyeva, who has described that rebranding as a central task for the studio.