"Daimokhk" filmmaker speaks about atmosphere of fear and mistrust in Chechnya

A documentary about the Chechen choreographer, Ramzan Akhmadov, has been included into the contest programme of the "Artdocfest" Festival. In Chechnya, the film crew faced people's reluctance to tell what was happening in the republic out of fear before authorities.

The film "Daimokhk" directed by an Amsterdam film director, Masha Novikova, will be presented in the contest programme of the "Artdocfest-2019" International Documentary Film Festival.

"Daimokhk" is a story of the choreographer, Ramzan Akhmadov, "whose 'Daimokhk' dance group found refuge in Chechnya." "Thanks to this, the dying of the folk dance tradition is delayed for some time. But the price they had to pay for saving the folk traditions was also high – Ramzan has to collaborate with the authorities and sacrifice his most valuable things," says the film description.

In 1999, Akhmadov created the "Daimokhk" children's song and dance ensemble; and when warfare was on in Chechnya, the ensemble toured Europe a lot, the "Meduza" writes.

In April 2016, the Legal Committee of the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) reported the "climate of pervasive fear" reigning in Chechnya.

The film director said that she met the Akhmadov family in 2002. According to her story, in 2013, during her next visit to Chechnya, she noted that "the situation in the republic and in the Akhmadov family had changed a lot." "Suddenly, the family members acquired luxurious houses and cars," Masha Novikova has explained that in 2013, a daughter of Ramzan Akhmadov, Aminat, joined the close encirclement of Ramzan Kadyrov.

In 2013, according to Ms Novikova, Akhmadov began speaking to her "very officially."

She regretted that the main restriction during filming was the heroes' self-censorship.