Director of film about Dagestani women calls to revise mountain traditions

Alexander Fedorov, the director of the film "They Also Dreamed" has stated it is necessary to abandon such traditions of Dagestani mountain villages like referring certain physically difficult occupations to the category of specifically female labour.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 5, in Moscow, the Documentary Film Centre hosted the premiere screening of the documentary "They Also Dreamed: Stories of Dagestani Women".

Alexander Fedorov, the director of the film "They Also Dreamed: Stories of Dagestani Women", raised the issue of revising mountain traditions. "It's a very hard labour, which for some reason has traditionally become only women's one. And, of course, it's one of those traditions that need revision," he says in a video posted on the YouTube on February 3 and entitled "How I made a film about Dagestani women", while commenting the story about salt evaporation.

Not all residents of highland villages were ready to talk about their problems, said Alexander Fedorov. According to his story, due to unwillingness of the residents of one of the villages, the film doesn't include a story about a feldsher point, which lacks even the most common medicines, and where doctors often have to buy them for their own money.

He has called on residents of Dagestan to "stop being shy and start talking" about their problems and demand from authorities to tackle them.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 8, 2020 at 08:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.