“Burden of virginity” is the first Uzbek documentary unveiling Uzbek traditions on female pride and honour.
The movie was issued on March 5 and raised an important issue not only for Uzbekistan, but also for all oriental countries. The film focuses on the preservation of virginity by the wedding ceremony. The controversy of the topic promised higher attention of the public.
The movie was produced by the director of Tashkent Cinema Museum and film-maker Oleg Karpov and his wife Umida Ahmedova.
According to the old tradition, the relatives of the groom want to demonstrate the bed sheet with blood spots as evidence of the fiancé’s virginity after the wedding night. It is a big shame for the girl if the bed sheet is clean.
The majority of people in Uzbekistan, particularly in the rural areas, support the old tradition. The relatives of the groom often insist on medical examination of the bride prior to the wedding. Moreover, this custom is supported by prominent scientists in the republic.
The documentary is devoted to the life of one countrywoman. The mother shares that in the morning, following the grand wedding, her daughter was publicly banished from the house. After such shame; the girl attempted several times to commit suicide. She has not been able to get married since.
The second part of the documentary shows the anonymous interview with people of various backgrounds: sociologist, doctor and even forensic scientist. The authors of the film interviewed older women from different villages that faced such problems.
The authors of “The Burden of Virginity” let the public give independent evaluation of positive and negative sides of the movie.
The movie already brought a lot of controversy and debate.
Mr Karpov said that the documentary was produced under the sponsored support of the Swiss Embassy in Uzbekistan.
The director of Gender Programme under the Swiss Embassy in Uzbekistan, Eleonora Fayzullaeva, said that “at the beginning we supported the idea of the movie because of the social importance of the topic. However, Mr Karpov included the information which goes against the ethics and basic human rights. Gender programme does not share the content of this documentary and did not approve the final version for transmission. So, it is untrue to say that the movie was made with the support of the Swiss Embassy.”
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