During my participation in the CEE Wiki Peer Learning Exchange Program, one of my key goals was to discover new project formats that could inspire and energize the Uzbek Wikipedia community. That inspiration found its perfect match during my exchanges with the Wikimedia Czech Republic team, specifically around their ongoing Wiki Loves Film initiative.
While WMCZ has been successfully hosting this campaign since 2024, Uzbekistan had never participated before. Seeing the potential of this project, I reached out to Pavel Bednařík for advice and guidance. Together, we agreed to launch an edit-a-thon titled “Wiki Loves Uzbek Cinema” on July 14, marking Uzbekistan’s debut in the movement. Inspired by our discussions, I set to work on our local community platform:
- Created the dedicated Wiki Loves Film project page on Uzbek Wikipedia.
- Curated a targeted list of recommended articles on Meta-Wiki focusing on Uzbek cinema history, notable films, and filmmakers.
The live edit-a-thon kicked off with an engaging hybrid atmosphere. I opened the session by introducing Pavel to the active members of the Uzbek Wikipedia community and the TSUE Wiki Club. To set the context, I gave a brief overview of the history, evolution, and current state of Uzbek cinema. Pavel then took the floor to share the broader vision of Wiki Loves Film. He highlighted key outcomes from their 2024 campaign, lessons learned, and the goals set for this year’s edition. Hearing firsthand how another community scales culture-focused campaigns gave our participants immediate inspiration.
A major challenge we face is that information about Uzbek cinema, its classic masterworks, contemporary directors, and rich film history, is heavily underrepresented not just on Uzbek Wikipedia, but across all language versions of Wikimedia projects. To fix this, our immediate strategy is clear: build a strong foundation of articles in Uzbek first, which can later be translated into other languages. During the 3-hour edit-a-thon, our enthusiastic participants successfully created between 15 to 20 quality articles about iconic Uzbek films and cinema figures.
The success of this collaborative edit-a-thon sparked incredible interest within our community. Seeing the enthusiasm, we decided to take it a step further: Uzbekistan will officially host its first full-month Wiki Loves Film campaign from September 1 to September 30! What started as an idea during a virtual peer learning exchange has transformed into a concrete, nationwide initiative for our community. We are deeply grateful to Wikimedia Czech Republic and Pavel Bednařík for their mentorship, and we look forward to seeing Uzbek cinema shine on the global wiki stage this Septembe
Can you help us translate this article?
In order for this article to reach as many people as possible we would like your help. Can you translate this article to get the message out?
Start translation