30. Film Festival della Lessinia
Bosco Chiesanuova (Italia)
23 August - 1 September 2024

Italian premiere

Jamilat is a woman in her 50s who lives in the small village of Tindi, in Dagestan, in the northern Caucasian Mountains. Everything in her forcefully rejects the stereotype of women as fragile, insecure creatures. During her youth, lived at the height of the Soviet regime, she was a wrestling champion. The energetic anti-conformist behaviour and obstinance that have always characterised her are manifest in her daily struggle to defend her image as a strong-willed, independent woman. In an environment dominated by men, Jamilat fights for the right of women to freely express themselves with gestures, dances, opinion, and lifestyle choices.

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  Iwona Kaliszewska

  A researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Warsaw, Iwona Kaliszewska recently completed her first film project.With her co-director, Kacper Czubak, she made the documentary Siłaczka, which has been screen at various festivals, including Beginning in Saint Petersburg and the International Human Rights Film Festival in San Sebastián.

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  Kacper Czubak

  Czubak earned a degree in  Radio and Television from Silesia University in Katowice, Poland, and currently holds a study grant at FAMU in Prague.  He directs films, shorts, and documentaries, some made in Africa and Asia, among these Hermits (2011) and 18 kg (2012). With Siłaczka he has participated, with his co-director Iwona Kaliszewska, in various international festivals, including the International Human Rights Film Festival in San Sebastián and Beginning in Saint Petersburg.