Saodat Ismailova

Saodat Ismailova is a filmmaker and artist from Uzbekistan who came of age in the post-Soviet era and has established her artistic career between Paris and Tashkent. Interweaving rituals and dreams within the tapestry of everyday life, her films investigate the historically complex and multilayered culture of Central Asia. She graduated from Tashkent’s State Institute of Arts and Culture and Le Fresnoy, National Studio for Contemporary Arts in Tourcoing. In 2021, she founded the DAVRA research collective in Central Asia.

She has had solo exhibitions at Swiss Institute (2026), Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan (2024–2025), Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam (2023), Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing (2023), and Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent (2019). Her work has been presented in numerous collective exhibitions, including the Bourse de Commerce, Pinault Collection (2026), the Fondation Pernod Ricard (2025), Venice Biennale (2013, 2022), documenta fifteen (2022), and major international film festivals. In 2022, she received the Eye Art & Film Prize, Amsterdam, and the Art Basel Gold Award in 2025.