Idea of a film about a female sex worker provokes disputes in North Ossetia

An idea of director Zaur Dzgoev to make a film about a female sex worker in North Ossetia to draw attention to the problem of violence against women and the violation of their rights provoked angry responses on social media. The Ossetian society needs artistic statements on the topic, when authors correctly understand the problem, analysts say.

The young Ossetian director is raising funds to shoot a short film about a broken woman’s life. The film is expected to have the title “The Kingdom of Broken Violins”.

On the Planeta.Ru platform, the film’s idea is described as “a story of high hopes and a broken life of a talented princess in the Caucasus told by a woman of easy virtue to her client.”

According to Zaur Dzgoev, he has long been concerned about the problem of gender inequality and violation of women’s rights.

In their comments on social media, some users considered the idea of the film not worthy of attention or perceived it negatively. According to the film director, he got messages with insults from some Internet users.

The topic of the film should not embarrass a viewer if the film describes healthy ideas, says journalist Anna Kabisova. She also noted that the topic of violence against women cannot be reduced to the problems of female sex workers.

According to Elina Valieva, an activist of the “Khotae” (Sisters) movement against domestic violence, the society needs films on such topics.

“Judging by what we see, people do not understand how great the problems of women in the Caucasus are, as everyone keeps silence about such problems,” Elina Valieva said.