Ali Khamraev - Born: 19 May 1937 in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union (now Uzbekistan). A prominent director of the Soviet thaw generation, Khamraev's films resonate with the artistic adventurousness and intellectual curiosity of his sixties contemporaries Tarkovsky and Parajanov. After graduating from VGIK in 1961, he began a prolific career that was highlighted by several internationally renowned films, including White Cranes, Extraordinary Commissar, and The Seventh Bullet-- one of the most widely seen Central Asian films of all time. Beyond his native Uzbekistan, Khamraev also directed films in Tajikstan, Russia, and Afghanistan, and his belated return to directing-- Bo Ba Bu --was an Italian co-production that featured an eclectic cast of Central Asian characters to embody the former Soviet republics at the end of the last century.