Documentary "Barzakh" about tortures and kidnapping in Chechnya awarded several cinema prizes

The documentary "Barzakh" by Lithuanian producer Mantas Kvedaravichius about tortures and kidnapping in Chechnya was not only honoured by several cinema rewards but also became a discovery for many people in Europe. 

According to the producer of "Barzakh", there were various reactions to the film in different countries but one thing remained invariable: it left nobody indifferent and became a discovery for people. After viewing it they admitted that they had known absolutely nothing of the life and events in today's Chechnya. 

The Lithuanian Cinema Academy recently named "Barzakh" the best documentary of the year. The film received "Silver Crane" at an official award ceremony shown on a live broadcast of Lithuanian TV.

"On May, 11, "Barzakh" was acknowledged the best film at an international film festival in Belgrade. The international committee of the festival emphasized that the film had created a language of new cinema at the same time remaining in real life as a nightmare for people. On May, 18, a week after the event in Belgrade, "Barzakh" got an honorary title "For Struggle for Human Rights" at an international documentary cinema festival in Warsaw", Mantas Kvedaravichius said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. 

According to him, after the previous show in Switzerland people thanked him and said that for them who were accustomed to European life standards the film was a great shock and they had to review many of the things they had known about modern Chechnya. 

This autumn the film will be first shown in the cinemas of Lithuania and then in other countries of the world. After the distribution in the cinemas the film will be issued on DVDs and come into the market. Then, according to the producer, TV shows are planned in several countries and the film will also be placed on the Net for all comers to be able to see it. 

Human rights activist and co-author of the film, member of "Memorial" Human Rights Center Ahmed Gisaev emphasized that this February "Barzalh" was selected from several thousand of the "films offered at the opening of film festival in Berlin and it was a fact of great significance". 

The film is devoted to the memory of member of "Memorial" Human Rights Center Natalia Estemirova.