Abstract

The image of women was one of the most prominent in early Soviet mythology and was designed to eradicate pre-revolutionary conceptions of femininity. In Central Asian cinema, the figure of the “liberated woman of the East” emerged as a symbolic opposition to traditional ways of life. Early Soviet films frequently centered on a woman’s transformation from a victim of the old (traditional) life into a “new woman.” Through mise-en-scène, costume, and narrative resolution, these films constructed new models of female behavior and introduced new moral norms, modes of thinking and speaking, and everyday practices, as exemplified in Muslim Woman (1925), Second Wife (1926), Jackals of Ravat (1927), The Veil (1927), The Leper Girl (1928), Without Fear (1972), and Fiery Roads (1977–1984).

After independence, post-Soviet rhetoric permeated Central Asian cinema, as filmmakers turned to the reassessment of Soviet history and collective memory. Films revisiting the Soviet past sought to offer alternative perspectives on pivotal historical moments and the social movements that shaped women’s status. In this context, cinema critically engaged with the legacy of Soviet modernization, highlighting tensions between ideological reform and cultural tradition (The Speaker (1999), Her Right (2020), 2000 Songs of Farida (2020), etc.).

This paper examines Soviet and post-Soviet representations and interpretations of the “new woman” in films, short videos, and documentaries. It argues that women’s bodies function as key cinematic sites where ideology, historical memory, and competing models of femininity are visually negotiated across different political epochs.