Dropouts and Dreamers Film Series: THE NEEDLE (1988)

DCP | 1988 | directed by Rashid Nugmanov | Kazakhstan, USSR | 76 minutes | Russian with English subtitles

Free admission. No registration required.

The enigmatic protagonist, Moro, returns to his hometown of Almaty to collect a debt owed to him by an old acquaintance. While staying with his ex-girlfriend, he discovers her morphine addiction and tries to help her overcome it. Yet Moro’s efforts lead him to an open confrontation with the local drug dealer and criminal world. Set against the backdrop of Almaty's cityscapes and the ecological catastrophe of the Aral Sea, the film is emblematic of the Kazakh New Wave emerging during the period of growing artistic and political freedom of the Perestroika era. Starring the late Soviet underground rock star Viktor Tsoi, the film soon acquired cult status, and its soundtrack still resonates in post-Soviet popular and protest cultures.

Post-screening discussion led by Jinyi Chu (Slavic Department) will follow.

This screening is part of the “Dropouts and Dreamers: Films of the Socialist 1980s” series, which explores the experiences of youth in the state socialist world during the transformative period of the 1980s.

Presented by The Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Memorial Fund, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.