Dinara Asanova

Dinara Kuldashevna Asanova was a Kyrgyzstani-Soviet film director and one of the most notable and acclaimed female filmmakers of the late Soviet Union. She is best known for her films Woodpeckers Don't Get Headaches (1975) and Tough Kids or Boys (Patsany) (1983). Although she was not very well known in the West, Asanova was popular in the USSR. Her career spans over 25 years, ending with her death at the age of 42 due to a heart ailment. Between the years 1969 and 1984, Asanova made ten films. Her films often dealt with the subject of troubled adolescence and incorporated critiques on Soviet society. Asanova rarely had problems with the censors despite the fact that her films featured such themes.