Transmission: A portrait of an Ismaili Muslim family in Tajik Badakhshan (2010)
How was religion able to survive the harsh atheist rule of the Soviet Union?
What measures did people take to preserve and pass on their beliefs and practices from generation to generation?
This portrait of an Ismaili Muslim family living in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan explores how they practiced religion under the watchful eyes of Soviet officials and how they passed on their religious beliefs and practices during the Soviet Union's repression of religion. It also shows the reinvigoration of their beliefs in post-Soviet times.
Exploring the history and faith of the Pamiri Ismailis through conversations between three generations of one family, they discuss their knowledge of faith in Soviet times, their lives after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the brutal Tajik civil war in the early 1990s, and the changes they have undergone until today.
Important in their post-Soviet lives is the reunion of the Ismailis of Badakhshan with their spiritual leader His Highness the Aga Khan, the forty-ninth hereditary Shi'a Ismaili Imam. It was this connection, both spiritually and with his development institutions, that saved their lives and reinvigorated their faith.
Produced, Directed & Edited by Aleem Karmali
Running Time: 19 min.
Language: Shugni and Russian with English subtitles
Screened at London's Shortwave Cinema in September 2009
Screened at Sounds & Spaces of Muslim Piety Conference - University of Alberta, April 2011
© 2010 Crescent Productions
http://www.crescentproductions.com/transmission.html
