A Donkey Will (by Majid Al-Remaihi)
In a sunlit courtyard framed by intricate tiled arcades, a lone figure seemingly from the past stands before a bronze statue of a smiling rider on a donkey, it's Nasreddin. Dappled light from a nearby tree softens the scene, creating a reflective, almost surreal moment as the figure silently regards the statue.

‘A Donkey Will’ is a film that reimagines the folkloric figure of Nasreddin, or Juha or Efendi, a jester and a wise man wanderer (played by Anhar Salem), roaming through present-day Bukhara after losing his donkey. The film unfolds through puppetry, documentary fragments, and absurdist performance as it fixates on the muse of contrariness and the relationship that sets the world’s balance.

Presented as a two-channel installation in the context of the first Bukhara Biennial, curated by Diana Campbell.

Writtent & Directed by Majid Al-Remaihi

Juha/Nasreddin by Anhar Salem

Featured poem by Hamza Kashgari

Assistant Director, Producer & Editor Gonçalo Lamas

Cinematography & Colour grading Guillaume Delsert

1st Camera Assistant Sergei Galin

2nd Camera Assistant Otabek Tilavoldiev

Lighting Technician Valentin Minosyan

Lighting Assistant MuhammadSodih Alimov

Focus Puller Sardor Umarbekov

Digital Imaging Technician (DIT) Elyor Amanov

Sound Recordist Dmitriy Timonin

Boom Operator Zabixulla Shaxaldarov

Costume Designer Zuxra Ganiyeva

Assistant Costume Designer Ravshanjon Rashidov

Props & Art Jamoliddin Ravshanov

Sound Editor Marcelo Tavares

General Producer (Uzbekistan) Muzaffar Yusupov

Line Producer MuhammadYusuf Shavkatov

Line Producer Assistant Fayyoz Buzrukxo'jayev

Production Runner Rafael Gabdurakhmanov

Production Runner Ilxom Abdulatipov

Camera Car Driver Vladislav Gaziyev

Transport / Van Driver Rakhmatilla Akhmedov

In a narrow earthen alley, a person in layered traditional dress leans against a weathered wall, eyes closed and lips pursed as if whistling. Warm sunlight and patches of shadow fall across the adobe buildings, while an open blue window draws the eye into the stillness of the scene. In a wide, sunlit square on the edge of a developing neighborhood, a solitary figure – Nasreddin – pauses beside a monumental sculpture of a mythical winged horse rearing atop a dry fountain. The vast blue sky and sparse surroundings lend the scene a surreal, dreamlike sense of isolation. In a sunlit park framed by trees and patterned architecture, two people – a slim man in a short-sleeve short and with a white hat and a Nasreddin figure in tradditional wear – sit on a wooden bench in a quiet, contemplative pause while passersby and a statue of a man on top of a donkey animate the background. A Donkey Will A Donkey Will

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