Roser Corella
2017.
Spain,
Germany,
Kyrgyzstan.
vo Kyrgyz.
s Spanish.
86’
Since Kyrgyzstan gained its Independence in 1991, there has been a revival of the ancient practice of Ala-Kachuu, which translates roughly as “grab and run”. More than half Kyrgyz women are married after being kidnapped by the men who become their husbands. Some escaped after violent ordeals, but most are persuaded to stay by tradition and fear of scandal. Although the practice is said to have its root in nomadic customs, the tradition remains at odds with modern Kyrgyzstan. Ala-Kachuu was outlawed during Soviet era and remains illegal under the kyrgyz criminal code, but the law has rarely been enforced to protect women from this violent practice.
My first trip to Kyrgyzstan in 2012 was to attend Human Rights Festival in Bishkek as an invitee to present one of my films. During my short stay, I witnessed "Ala-kachuu" (grab and run), the phenomenon of marriage by kidnapping. The open debate among the Kyrgyz society on the "social duty" to consider this practice as a crime or a tradition, considering how this was an accepted practice affects the rights and freedom of women, I knew this story had to be told.
Taking the binomial of tradition and modernity, legend and realism, “Grab and Run” aims to portray the role of women in the Kyrgyz society and make space for reflection on the concept of culture as an organic whole with an entity of its own, which acquires the capacity of domination of one group over another.
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