Zurich director shines light on Kyrgyz bride kidnapping

Kidnap a lady and marry her. Maria Brendle’s brief movie Ala Kachuu – Take and Run depicting the cruel Kyrgyz custom of bride kidnapping has been nominated within the Greatest Reside Motion Quick Movie class at this Sunday’s Oscars. The Zurich-based German director hopes her movie sends a message to all ladies to struggle for his or her rights.

This content material was printed on March 26, 2022 – 10:00

March 26, 2022 – 10:00

Kaoru Uda

SWI swissinfo.ch: Why did you make a movie about bride kidnapping?

Maria Brendle: I did not know something about bride kidnapping till 2016, when a good friend of mine who travelled by means of Kyrgyzstan informed me about his expertise. There was a lady with a tragic face in one of many photos that he took. He mentioned, “She is kidnapped,” and informed me that in Kyrgyzstan it’s ordinary that males kidnap ladies to marry.

I couldn’t imagine it. I began to analysis the problem and realized that many ladies had been the sufferer of bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan, in Central Asia, and in some elements of Africa. However amongst my buddies and my household nobody knew about this. I felt ashamed that I had by no means heard about it.

As a filmmaker, I wished to vary the truth that nobody is aware of in regards to the destiny of those ladies by producing a movie. That is how the journey began.

SWI: Throughout your analysis you visited a ladies’s shelter in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. What did you be taught there?

M.B.: Within the shelter, many women and girls shared their experiences. Not everybody was a sufferer of bride kidnapping. However I talked to a mom who was about 40 years outdated. She was the mom of a bit of boy, perhaps seven years outdated. She had been the sufferer of bride kidnapping. When her husband died, the mother and father of the husband kicked them out.

There was one other woman who was very younger. She needed to marry a boy she barely knew as a result of it was what her mother and father wished. On the marriage day, her two buddies introduced her to the ladies’s shelter. However she mentioned she was very scared that somebody may come and take her again house.

SWI: The primary character Sezim, a younger Kyrgyz woman, is a powerful determine who fights for her freedom. Was the character created primarily based on these ladies’s experiences?

M.B.: I had a number of ideas. In actual life, a number of ladies commit suicide after they’re kidnapped. That was in my head too, after all.

However I requested a lady within the shelter what they wished me to do with this movie. She mentioned, “a powerful feminine character, a job mannequin for younger ladies.” So, it was clear to me to create such a determine. To inform younger ladies, “know your rights, be robust, say no and use your voice”.

SWI: A woman will get kidnapped by a gaggle of males after which taken to the household of a groom who’s ready for a bride. She provides up after resisting for hours. Is that this how bride kidnapping occurs?

M.B.: What I wrote within the movie is generally the way it occurs. It relies upon, after all. Some ladies ask their boyfriends to kidnap them as a result of their mother and father need them to marry one other man. Such instances may additionally occur.

SWI: However it might be a complete stranger who kidnaps you…

M.B.: Within the casting, one man mentioned very proudly, “I’ve carried out three bride kidnappings. The final time we did it was in Bishkek. We determined to take the following woman who got here across the nook.” They usually did. This woman was within the improper place on the improper time.

I mirrored this in my script. Sezim was not the primary goal. Her colleague, who was the preliminary goal, was not there; that’s why the boys took Sezim.

A woman who studied in Bishkek informed me that she by no means talked to male classmates. She was afraid that boys would assume she was on the lookout for marriage if she did. If you’re a lady turning 14 or 15, you reside in concern every single day. Once you depart your home, a automobile full of men may come and take you to a household to marry a stranger or a boy you noticed solely twice.

SWI:  Probably the most stunning a part of the movie is how the ladies within the groom’s household persuade Sezim to simply accept her destiny.

M.B.: I wished to point out that this can be a form of cycle between ladies. As a result of older ladies, who additionally acquired kidnapped, say, “I survived that, so you may too”. It’s vital to know why the ladies and the boys are like that, as a result of it’s their tradition. It’s taking place every single day, over generations. It’s form of regular.

SWI: However bride kidnapping is against the law in Kyrgyzstan…

M.B.: It’s. However custom is extra vital. I heard a narrative a few woman who acquired kidnapped. She ran to the police, however the policeman mentioned to her, “It is not my drawback. Go and discuss to your loved ones.” Think about you are in a home in the midst of nowhere, miles away from house. You’ll be able to’t simply go to the police. the police are even kilometres away. You haven’t any different selection however to remain.

I heard that 80% of the ladies are staying with the husband as a result of they’re scared. They don’t wish to carry disgrace on their household by operating away.

SWI: Why did you resolve to make a brief movie, not a characteristic?

M.B.: We considered it too, nevertheless it was such a problem taking pictures a movie in Kyrgyzstan. In some locations we had no electrical energy. I hoped we may no less than make a two-minute video and that I may do one thing with it. 

After we got here again to Switzerland, we considered making an extended model. However the pandemic got here. It was not doable to return to Kyrgyzstan once more to shoot in 2020.

One more reason was that I wished to boost consciousness. A brief movie can go on pageant programmes everywhere in the world so that everybody is aware of about bride kidnapping. And lastly, we didn’t manage to pay for.

SWI: Do younger generations settle for this follow as part of Kyrgyz traditions?

M.B.: The younger technology see it this fashion. They are saying: “It occurs perhaps within the countryside. To not me.” However that is the issue, as a result of in the event that they get kidnapped, they do not know what to do.

I heard there’s now a cell phone app for women to learn to struggle bride kidnapping, giving helpful info the place they will get assist. Creating consciousness is so vital as a result of it may occur to you at any second. You must be ready.

SWI: Does bride kidnapping happen solely within the countryside?

M.B.: Lots of people assume bride kidnapping occurs solely in the midst of nowhere. It occurs within the metropolis as effectively, however not so usually.

SWI:  Making a movie a few completely different tradition could be tough. When you may carry a recent perspective into a difficulty, your prejudice may additionally stop you from understanding the entire image. How did you take care of this?

M.B.: It was essential for me to provide respect. I don’t wish to be a European woman who says, “Hey, what you might be doing is improper, I do know higher.” Within the strategy of doing my analysis, writing the script, and taking pictures scenes, I all the time requested the Kyrgyz crew members and actors if we had been getting it proper. If not, I modified the script. They helped me to know their tradition.

SWI: Pressured marriage will not be taking place solely in Asia, but in addition in Europe. In nations resembling Germany, Britain and Switzerland, instances of pressured marriage have been reported lately. Have you ever ever considered making a movie about that?

M.B.: I knew about Turkey or India, the place organized marriages or pressured marriages happen. However I by no means heard about Kyrgyzstan. It was an unknown matter to us. That’s why I set my purpose to create consciousness in regards to the nation.

I heard from a Swiss organisation preventing pressured marriages about many African ladies’ instances. A number of African ladies are pressured to get married towards their will. In these trendy occasions, there are younger ladies, solely 13 years outdated who turn into the victims of such traditions. It is unbelievable that your individual household, who ought to shield you, brings you to an outdated man to marry him. It has to cease.

SWI: What’s a very powerful message you wished to ship to the world through this movie?

M.B.: We want individuals who inform the ladies, perhaps in class, that it is improper. We want schooling for all ladies, in all places on this planet. You can not simply take a lady and turn into an proprietor of a human being. It is simply not proper. My message to all younger ladies is to struggle on your rights.

SWI: Ala Kachuu – Take and Run has acquired many worldwide awards and now the Oscar nomination. How do you are feeling in regards to the recognition the movie has acquired?

M.B.: It’s wonderful. Six years in the past, I used to be only a woman with an thought. And I believed, “OK, let’s go so far as I can. Possibly one thing will occur.”

Now I am sitting right here in Los Angeles, going to the Oscars. The entire world is aware of this movie. I’ve acquired so many messages from everywhere in the world by means of social media. I thank the entire crew, the entire crew, and all of the courageous ladies who confided in me and informed me their tales.

SWI: Sezim’s story ends ambiguously, leaving it as much as viewers to think about what comes subsequent.

M.B.: I did not wish to carry the story to a transparent conclusion as a result of that’s how it’s for the kidnapped ladies. They might flee from their husbands, however the place can they go? The place ought to they discover some assist? What’s going to occur to them after? I would like the viewers to consider that.

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Extra: SWI swissinfo.ch licensed by the Journalism Belief Initiative