Bibi Seshanbe

From the first generation of post-Soviet Uzbek filmmakers, Saodat Ismailova weaves a multidimensional tableau layering cosmic and contemporary time, connected through the living ritual.  

Bibi Seshanbe (“The Lady of Tuesday”) is a blessing ritual in Central Asia venerating an ancient female goddess and protector of women. Syncretic in origin, with Zoroastrian, animist, and Muslim influences, the ritual centers on a tale that parallels the story of Cinderella. The film weaves together a reenactment of this tale, ethnographic documentation of the ritual as it is still practiced today in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and the story of a modern-day “fairy godmother,” Bibi Sora Oripova, a burn surgeon from Samarkand who founded a shelter, fighting for the lives and rights of women who have survived domestic violence.

Programme section: Between Film and Art
Original title: Bibi Seshanbe | Year: 2023 | Duration: 52′
Country: Uzbekistan, Germany | Language: Uzbek | Subtitles: English
Director: Saodat Ismailova | Cast: Durdona Tillavova, Bibi Sora Oripova | Cinematography: Saodat Ismailova | Editing: Saodat Ismailova | Sound: Marc Parazon

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

Dokumenta Fifteen, 2022 – World premiere | Eye Exhibition 18000 worlds, accompaniment, 2023 | Theater Commons Tokyo, 2024 | Berlinische Galerie, 2025

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Saodat Ismailova is a filmmaker and artist from the first post-Soviet generation in Uzbekistan. Her films and installations explore the collective memory, spiritual practices, and ancestral knowledge of Central Asia, addressing colonial legacies and the persistence of cultural transmission. Recent solo exhibitions include A Seed Under Our Tongue at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan (2024), As We Fade at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2025–26), and Amanat at Swiss Institute, New York (2026) — her first solo exhibition in the United States.