Oxygen Station: New Film on Mustafa Dzhemilev's Love and Struggle Premieres April 10 in Ukraine

In April, a film about the love and struggle of the Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev and his wife is to be premiered. The film shows their steadfastness in exile and repression, drawing attention to the theme of dignity and justice.

This was reported by Suspilne. Crimea.

On April 10, the film Oxygen Station, a story about love, dignity and struggle that does not stop even in exile, is to be released in Ukraine. The film, directed by Ivan Tymchenko, tells the story of the leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev and his wife Safinar, who went through repression, prison and exile together.

The Oxygen Station depicts the events of the summer of 1980, when Mustafa Dzhemilev, a longtime political prisoner, was serving another exile in Soviet Yakutia, at an oxygen station in the village of Zyryanka. Every day he filled the rusty cylinders with oxygen, and that's where his love story with his future wife Safinar begins.

Mustafa is a dissident exiled thousands of kilometers from home, and Safinar is a young teacher who sets out on a journey to meet him. They got married a few days after they met, because marriage was the only way for her to stay close to him.

The film took over five years to complete and is a new project from the creators of Ilovaysk 2014. The Donbas Battalion, directed by Ivan Tymchenko and written by Mykhailo Brynykh.

In November last year, Czech President Petr Pavel awarded the leader of the Crimean Tatar people, human rights activist Mustafa Dzhemilev with the Medal of Merit, first class. This was in recognition of his many years of struggle for human rights, restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatars, and resistance to the Russian occupation of Crimea.

Also last year, the Kharkiv-based Folio Publishing House published a book by Odesa-based journalist and editor of the Intent publication Yevhenia Genova, Crimean Tatar Families. The book contains 14 stories of Crimean Tatar families, covering various historical events - from the occupation of Crimea in the 18th century to the full-scale invasion of 2022.

Анна Бальчінос