Directed by Rachid Nougmanov • 1988 • USSR/Kazakhstan

Part Pulp Fiction, part Betty Blue, Rachid Nougmanov’s cult punk film portrays the attempt of an enigmatic drifter (Soviet rock legend Viktor Tsoi) to free his ex-girlfriend from the clutches of a morphine-peddling surgeon. Contrasting the shadowy backstreets of Almaty with the desolation of the Aral Sea, this was the first Soviet film to break the taboo around drug addiction. With a thrilling soundtrack from Tsoi’s era-defining band Kino, The Needle is widely seen as the film that launched the Kazakh New Wave.

THE NEEDLE • ИГЛА
Directed by Rachid Nougmanov
Written by Aleksandr Baranov, Bakhyt Kilibayev
Cinematography by Murat Nugmanov
Music by Viktor Tsoi
Starring: Viktor Tsoi, Marina Smirnova, Pyotr Mamonov

In Russian with English subtitles