In a sweeping overhaul of the country's creative economy, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced Monday that Uzbekistan will completely dismantle its central cinema apparatus, replacing Soviet-style regulatory councils with major tax breaks and direct profit-sharing models for filmmakers.
The Republican Cinematography Commission, alongside the National and Artistic Councils, will be permanently dissolved. According to administration officials, the decision follows years of friction over outdated governance models and restrictive, bureaucratic control systems that hindered local production.
Shift to Decentralized Expert Panels
Moving forward, the government is abandoning its centralized censorship and vetting system. In its place, the state will establish nimble, project-based expert panels to review incoming scripts.
These paid panels will draw specialists directly from independent trade groups, including:
- Creative Union of Filmmakers of Uzbekistan
- Writers' Union
- Composers' Union
Major Financial Incentives
To stimulate private investment and curb industry brain drain, the decree introduces unprecedented fiscal adjustments effective September 1, 2026:
- 50% Revenue Split: Creative crews and producers will now directly pocket half of all box office returns generated by state-commissioned films.
- 30% Marketing Subsidies: Production companies can now allocate up to nearly a third of state-allocated film budgets exclusively to marketing and advertising campaigns.
- Abolition of Audits: Bureaucratic compliance checks on procurement contracts have been entirely eliminated to speed up production timelines.
Wooing Foreign Studios and Streaming Platforms
The reform also positions Uzbekistan as a low-cost regional filming hub by granting global production companies a complete exemption from local taxes when shooting within the country.
Simultaneously, the historic Uzbekfilm studio is being upgraded to a state-backed national cinema concern. The facility will undergo a technological modernization to service both local independent filmmakers and incoming international crews, backed by an aggressive push to ink distribution deals with global digital streaming platforms.
To further elevate the region's cultural profile, the state is injecting a dedicated annual budget of 5 billion soums into the "Oltin Humo" (Golden Humo) National Film Awards to transform the local event into a premiere Central Asian film festival.
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