16 December 2003, 14:24
Chechen film director Murad Mazayev presented his new films in Lvov
Films about Chechnya were demonstrated in Lvov on December 10 as a part of the program timed to Human Rights Day. Film director Murad Mazayev, who was invited by the organizers as a special guest, presented two projects: the documentary one "Things I Remember" shot by Chechen journalists and cut by Poles in Krakow and the feature film "Marsho", which is already world-famed.
A 15-minute film "Things I Remember" is compiled from chronicles of the second Chechen war. The audience were stunned with what they had seen. Many of them said they had never seen the war so openly, never seen such undisguised, terrifying truth.
After the demonstration at the Lyalka Club, there was a meeting with Murad Mazayev. People asked him whether the Chechens hoped for the help of the western public. Murad answered, "During the first Chechen war and in the beginning of the second one we really thought the UN, human rights defenders, and the US would interfere. But now we understand there is nobody whom we can wait help from. We must rely only on our own forces."
Another question was if "Marsho" had been demonstrated in Russia or Chechnya. Murad said there were few chances it would happen in the nearest future. Though, as he noted, the film does not show even one hundredth of what the Russian military do.
As for possible solutions to the Chechen problem, the film director holds the Chechen party is ready to compromise, wishing to end this bloody slaughter.
At the end, the audience saw the film "Greetings from Grozny" by Paul Mitchell and Tanya Rakhmanova. It covers events happening in Chechnya, Ingushetia, and the Pankisi Gorge area.
Source: Chechen.org Website
