'Cinema that hurts': how the first Ukrainian film about the annexation of Crimea achieved world recognition

The film “Dodomu” (“Home” - Russian) became a huge event in Ukrainian cinema. The film by Crimean Tatar director Nariman Aliyev has been collecting awards at film festivals, nominations for prestigious film awards and attention from the international press for six months now. The film will be released in Ukrainian on November 7, writes with the BBC.

“Dodoma” is a poignant road movie, where the destination is not so important as what happens to the characters on the road.

This is the first Ukrainian film about the annexation of Crimea, and although these events are not in the film, they are an important background and the cause of everything that happens.

Why is it worth watching the movie Home?

Ukrainians in Cannes

Ukrainian films do not often get into the most prestigious film festivals, and Nariman Aliyev is one of those few who succeeded. “Dodoma” was selected for “Un Certain Regard,” the second most important competition program at Cannes.

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The film did not receive an award in Cannes, but in the palace of festivals with loud applause they met a film story about the Crimean Tatar family, about returning home, about how difficult times are united.

“Dodomu is my personal, quiet manifesto against what is happening to my people in this difficult time,” Nariman Aliyev says about his film.

The plot of “Dodoma” is centered on the story of the Crimean Tatar Mustafa, whose eldest son dies. The father comes to Kyiv, where his two sons left after the annexation of Crimea, to return the youngest son home and bury the eldest on the peninsula according to Muslim traditions.

According to the director, in the film he tried through the story of one family to show the whole tragedy of the Crimean Tatar people and tell about the realities of today in which everyone found themselves.

Mature beyond his years and a thoughtful director, film critics say about Nariman. “This is a very good film. It tells an important story in a very beautiful cinematic way. I think that with such a debut he will return to Cannes more than once,” the director of the Cannes Festival, Thierry Fremaux, shared his impressions of Nariman Aliyev, noting that the future of the world of cinema lies with such young directors.

Acting

The main roles in the film were played by the already experienced actor Akhtem Seitablaev and the unprofessional actor and cousin of the director Remzi Bilyalov. It is their duet in the film called successful.

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“Akhtem Seytablaev manages to evoke sympathy for his hero Mustafa, his determined gaze and clenched jaw demonstrate the tension of a man who has set a goal for himself and wants to achieve it despite everything. Small manifestations of anger and resistance from his son Alim (Ramzi Bilyalova) well set off the feelings of love and hatred for his father,” Screendaily columnist Alan Hunter describes the actors’ performances.

Akhtem Seitablaev received awards for Best Actor at the International Bosphorus Film Festival in Istanbul and at the National Film Critics Award of Ukraine “Kinokolo”.

Mountain of rewards

“Dodomu” continues to collect awards and nominations. Thus, the film is on the long list for the Oscars, Golden Globes and the European Film Academy Awards.

The film received a grand prix, a standing ovation and tears from the audience of the Odessa Film Festival and the main prize of the International Film Festival in Bucharest (BIFF).

“Dodoma” became the best foreign film of the 7 International Bosphorus Film Festival in Istanbul and received an audience prize at the Ukrainian Film Festival in Warsaw.

The film was shown in 13 countries of the world, film companies from France, Great Britain, Benelux, Greece, Turkey and China acquired the rights to the film.

Incredible camera work

The film is visually impressive, Variety film critic Alisa Simon writes about it and praises the incredible cinematography: “The value of the film lies not only in its depiction of the life and traditions of the Crimean Tatars, but also in the stunning cinematography by Anton Fursa. The heroes appear first up close - in the episodes in Kyiv and in the car. But as we approach Crimea, the face on the screen changes to majestic, albeit austere views."

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“No one in Ukrainian cinema of recent years has been able to present a story so deftly and not forget about representation,” says film critic Yaroslav Pidgora-Gwiazdovsky about the film “Dodomu.”

Especially unforgettable critics call the final scene of the film, which is breathtaking.

“A movie that hurts,” director Oleg Sentsov described the film in a post on his Facebook.

Ukraine in the frame

Sunrises, sunsets, fogs, roads, estuaries - the Ukrainian landscapes in the film “Dodoma” are touching and very familiar.

The film about the return from Kyiv to Crimea was filmed on the way to the south - at the airfield near Kiev, where a checkpoint was set up, in the villages of Troitskoye, Rakovo, and the town of Voznesenskoye in the Nikolaev region.

The last scenes of the film, which were scripted in the Crimea, were filmed near the Crimea, in the village of Strelkovoye on the Arabat Spit.

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