16 September 2026, 09:31
A film about the Crimean Tatars won at an international film festival
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PHOTO: ctrcenter.org
The documentary film "Etched in Memory" about the Crimean Tatars won an award at the MYTH Film Awards. The film depicts the struggle for the rights of Crimea’s indigenous people through the stories of human rights defenders, political prisoners, people abducted by the occupiers, and fallen defenders of Ukraine.
This was announced by Eskender Bariev, chairman of the board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.
The film, directed by Ukrainian-born American filmmaker Christina Pashin, received the award for Best International Film. The awards ceremony took place on September 12 in Ivano-Frankivsk. According to Bariev, 983 films from around the world were submitted to the festival this year, and 85 films from 42 countries were selected for the official program.
The film “Etched in Memory” tells the stories of Crimean Tatars who faced Russian occupation, repression, and full-scale war. The film features the stories of human rights activists Eskender Bariev and Zarema Barieva, Nariman Dzhelyal, who was released from Russian captivity, Leyla Ibragimova, director of the Melitopol Local History Museum, and soldier Seiran Kadyrov, who died fighting for Ukraine.
The film also tells the story of 17-year-old Emir Belyalov —one of the first victims of the full-scale invasion—who was killed when a rocket struck his family’s home in the village of Semikhatka in the Henichesk District.
The film also addresses the themes of forced displacement from Crimea, the struggle for the rights of the Crimean Tatar people, the release of political prisoners, and international advocacy for the de-occupation of the peninsula.
“We are infinitely grateful to Kristina for the fact that, thanks to her incredible efforts, the world can learn more about the history of the Crimean Tatar people’s struggle,” Bariyev noted.
The film was also selected for the program of the 29th Arpa International Film Festival in Los Angeles, which will take place September 24–27. In addition, the film was a finalist at the first International Crimean Film Festival in Turkey.
Filming took place in Ukraine, Turkey, and Poland. This year’s MYTH festival was dedicated to the themes of war, freedom, human dignity, social justice, and countering Russian propaganda.
Also, in early September, Odesa’s “Luty” Theater premiered the performative documentary “Koloniya | degil. Ne | Koloniya”—a production about the lost Crimea, decolonization, and the future of the peninsula’s indigenous people.
