After SCHLINGEL had visited Tokyo and the Russian city Novosibirsk in March, festival director Michael Harbauer returned from his trip to Tashkent yesterday.

For one week Michael Harbauer had been staying in Uzbekistan, where he presented eight German children’s and youth films at the 1st film Festival “Shom Bola” (= SCHLINGEL). Among the films that were screened there were film classics such as the DAS FLIEGENDE KLASSENZIMMER, HÄNDE WEG VON MISSISSIPPI and DER BRIEF FÜR DEN KÖNIG, but also the latest SCHLINGEL discoveries such as DAS KLEINE GESPENST, KOPFÜBER and DIE SCHWARZEN BRÜDER. All films were shown in German with Russian subtitles or Russian voice over respectively.

After each screening Michael Harbauer talked with the visitors about there impressions. Furthermore, children and teenagers had the opportunity to reflect and discuss the films in workshops. A total of 3,000 visitors aged 6 to 17 experienced a one-week film festival which was organized by the Goethe Institute and the national film organization Uzbekkino.

Michael Harbauer was pleased with the event after his return: “In a megacity like Tashkent there are rather few cultural offerings for children and young audiences, which is quite astonishing as about 40 per cent of the Uzbek population is younger than 17 years. I am happy that with SCHLINGEL films we were able to give an insight into German films. The audience was very excited and accepted the premiere of the festival very well. That’s why in 2015 the festival will be continued.”