A modern classic in Kyrgyzstan and set during the Second World War, the novel Jamilia tells the story of a free-spirited heroine who falls in love with a wounded and solitary young man, Daniyar, while her husband is away on the front.

Over the course of her film, Echard introduces contemporary Kyrgyz women who she invites to talk about Jamilia as a literary heroine and indeed a cultural figure. They variously project themselves onto her, and in turn reveal their own private lives and desires, the social rules of contemporary Kyrgyzstan, and their ideas of freedom.

Their candid answers, recorded in audio interviews separated from the film’s grainy Super-8mm images, gives Echard’s Jamilia the confessional intimacy of home movies. Through the capture of these personal reflections, interpretations and associations the film speaks of the influence and interpretation of the novel across decades of the nation’s history and into the post-Soviet present.

‘Echard’s film juxtaposes the gorgeously composed visuals of day-to-day life with the powerful voices of the women of Kyrgyzstan. Connecting literature, reality, past, and the present, Echard’s film is a testament to the importance of women’s stories.’ —The Arts Fuse