“My mother didn't go to high school because she would have met Romanian boys and would have put the whole nation to shame.” The film that talks about the Tatar community in Romania

The first Romanian film that brings the Tatar community to the fore, “Kîzîm”, proposes a story about adolescence and love, but also about the conflicts that can arise between conservative and liberal families. “Being ethnic Tatar, I felt obliged to write about my community. I related to personal experiences, some lived, others heard in the community,” explains screenwriter Elias Ferchin Musuret.

• HotNews spoke with the director Radu Potcoava and the screenwriter Elias Ferchin Musuret about the film “Kîzîm” (no – in translation “my dear”, “my little girl”).
• The Tatar community in Romania is concentrated in Constanța county and has approximately 35,000 members.
• The film “Kîzîm” can be seen in cinemas across the country starting from February 24.

“Kîzîm” (no – in translation “my dear”, “my little girl”) follows the story of Selda (Meryem Yeliz Mustafa), a 16-year-old girl of Tatar origin who plans to run away for a night in Vama Veche, together with her friends and Tudor (Matei Saizescu), the boy with whom she is in love.

But a shocking incident turns their plan upside down. Selda is forced to face both the consequences of her actions, and especially the lack of understanding of her parents who belong to the Tatar community, for whom traditions and honor are above all else.

While the story gives us a glimpse of a young generation, where terror and the need for freedom still prevail, it also emphasizes the cultural differences between Tatars and Romanians or between conservative and liberal families.

While Selda's parents, played by Elias Ferchin Musuret and Meryem Yeliz Mustafa, are worried about their daughter and do not want her to love a Romanian, Tudor's parents, played by Judith State and Tudor Chirilă, are at the opposite pole, maybe even too relaxed about the teenager. The clash between generations is present, as are the consequences of a night of teenage rebellion.

“The kids in my film don't communicate very well with their parents: Selda with her Tatar parents – no way; Tudor with his allegedly libertine parents seems different – in fact the feeling is that they let the child go too soon and now they are interested in him and not much; Marcel, Lucian – they have nothing to do with their parents, they don't seem to care what their parents will say when they come home, they seem to have completely different concerns”, says the director Radu Horseshoe.

The music of the film is signed by artists preferred by the young generation

The director also talks about how, with the filming of “Kîzîm”, he discovered the Tatar universe and the people here. “Friendly, warm, welcoming, polite, nice, but also fierce, proud, very possessive when it comes to their traditions and identity,” as he describes them.

The director managed to create a modern, authentic and real film, and the soundtrack adds to the action. He says he wanted a sound specific to the younger generation, which is why he chose him alongside the teenage actors. The public will be able to listen to songs by Dragonu', Nouă Unșpe, Nosfe or Killa Fonic, songs that Potcoava loves.

“The break, in fact, is between the music of the Tatars and the trap / rap of the kids – and somehow this is where the talent of Alin Zăbrăuțeanu (composer of the original music) intervened, who managed to complete the soundtrack with songs that take elements from both directions. And this proves to us that, here, even two different styles can meet in a cool balance point. Why wouldn't people do the same, instead to remain set in the belief that they belong to different worlds?” he explains.

Speaking of the fusion between Romanians and Tatars, as well as the event film in Romanian cinema, Radu Potcoava reveals how he specifically wanted to make a film with teenagers, but not only for teenagers, based on a story that is not moralistic.

Screenwriter Elias Ferkin: “A family that puts their daughter on the wall, for fear of the shame she can bring to the family”

– Selda's story brings to the fore a community very little represented in Romanian cinema. How did you construct this scenario so that it is both personal and representative of the Tatar community?
– Elias Ferkin: Being an ethnic Tatar, I felt obliged to write a story about my community.

I related as a first layer to personal experiences, some lived, others heard in the community. The second layer was to emphasize a story between two young people in their first love, the innocent one where everything is new. The feeling of first love is like nothing, and it comes with a lot of gestures and terrible actions, and somehow I built the whole story around this love! The third and last layer was to show the world a part of the customs and traditions, I thought that probably many people know very little about the Tatars in Romania. And this is how “Kîzîm” began to come to life.

– In the film we feel a real tension between those who want to keep traditions almost unaltered and those who believe that identity can evolve with the world. How did you navigate that fine line between traditionalism and modernity without turning the story into a judgment on the community?
– From the beginning I set out not to make it a film that points the finger at the community. In the old days, many parents carried on the way they were raised. As my parents did, but I tried to understand them, and not judge them, it was important to understand them.

There were times when you didn't have access to as much information as you do now; what you were taught, you also applied to your children! Mom couldn't go to high school, college was out of the question. Why? Because she would have met Romanian boys and would have put the whole nation to shame!

She was passionate about music and films, she opened my horizon to the world of film, she knew all the foreign actors by name. My mother ended up at a professional tailoring school in Medgidia, close to her village.

“Kîzîm” presents a family that is an increasingly rare case these days, a family that does not have the discernment and courage to analyze a little what is happening to their daughter, but put her on the wall for fear of the shame she may bring to the family.

“When you don't know where your child is, I think religious barriers rise”

– Tatar is spoken in the film, actors of Tatar ethnicity play, we see rituals and authentic fragments of the community's life. Was it also a form of identity assumption? And the fact that you wanted to show Romanians this world too, do you think it will be greeted with openness and joy by the Tatars?
– I hope so. What is seen in the film is only a fragment of what represents us Tatars! But even this little, I hope it will be received with pride by the community, I am proud to be a Tatar and I grew up with all the customs and traditions that represent us, and I am glad that I could show that in the film.

Dialogues in the Tatar language were essential to give flavor and authenticity to the sequences. Together with Turchian Guzin Nasurla, who plays the role of my wife in the film, and who has been an actress for over 20 years at the State Theater in Constanța, we managed to translate the lines into an authentic language that you hear more in the heart of more traditional families, and which have a special theme and charm! It is, somehow, an archaic language that is both comical and also full of wisdom.

– There is also a subtle Romanian-Tatar conflict in the film, but at the same time we discover that, beyond the cultural differences, parents' fears and teenagers' desires are universal. What would you like the majority Romanian audience to understand from this film about the Tatars?
– I would first of all not misinterpret, it is a singular case about a family! By the end, the two families' fears become universal. When you don't know where your child is, I think religious barriers rise and give way to feelings that we all definitely have; parental care is universally valid anywhere in the world!

And this unites the two families because they have a common goal, to find their children safe and unharmed! And maybe in this way, “Kîzîm” could become a common language between cultures! Selda is not only a teenage crush, but also one who tests limits, makes terrible gestures, seeks attention and validation.

– You also wrote this story from the perspective of a parent. How did you manage to balance the freedom that teenagers claim with the responsibility and real consequences of their choices?
– Yes, I am the father of a 20-year-old girl. Her maturation stages helped me a lot in the writing process. It helped me to understand much more easily how kids nowadays think, how they talk, what fears they have or what makes them happy.

I saw them go through all the stages under my nose, from children holding hands, to going to the club with them to concerts! Selda is like any teenage girl at the age of 15, looking for validations.

Unfortunately, the pressure of religion and traditions from the family hinders his natural path to maturity. A terrible gesture never comes without a reason. In her case, falling in love for the first time is not exactly a happy moment! Restricting your emotional freedom can further distance you from the traditions and values ​​that your parents insist you respect, just because “they are very important!”

“I think that together, parents and children, we can learn a lot from each other”

– The film also touches on a darker area, related to the consequences and the fragility of age, with a reference reminiscent of recent tragedies like the one on May 2. Was it also a red flag? And related to the contrast between strict and very permissive families in relation to teenagers – what would you like the parents to get out of this story?
– Selda and her friends are any gang from another city or country, maybe with slightly different nuances, but essentially their generation is pretty much the same everywhere.

We as parents must also have the courage to admit that no matter how rebellious or cool we were at their age, now we live in times where so many factors make them different from our times. Not everything that is happening now is good, but with the good that we have learned, gathered with their good, I think we can educate our children in a free direction, but with increased attention to the pitfalls of the society in which we live now. The May 2 tragedy is a clear example of what vices today's young people are exposed to, and this is where education clearly comes into play. And we as parents are responsible for such consequences.

– You said in another interview that the message is that “young people should be allowed to love as they feel” – can you elaborate on my point?
– I was referring to the way today's young people understand love. Not one with restrictions, religion, gender or color. Although many of us still cannot accept this freedom to love someone regardless of religion or gender, they understood that gender equality is something natural.

Life lessons can come the other way around, we parents also know things, but they, in turn, know what we don't. Each generation brought after it new things that the one after it did not know! I think that together, parents and children, we can learn a lot from each other.

It is important not to pretend that we do not see, that we do not hear. I consider this silence to be true suffering. When you don't want to ask because you're afraid of what answer you'll get.