A Kazakh filmmaker talks sexism & cinema: "People think we do it as a hobby"
Aizhana Kassymbek tells us about Fire, her latest film about a working-class Kazakh family, and the struggles she and her mostly-female crew faced during production.
As a female filmmaker in Kazakhstan, Aizhana Kassymbek has had to deal with sexism on a frequent basis. Many have belittled her ambition, passing her off as 'just a hobbyist.' She's often mentioned along with her father, the director Kanymbek Kassymbekov.
She's even faced sexism while shooting her latest film, Fire, a story about an everyday Kazakh man as he struggles to make ends meet amidst familial drama and cultural expectations: "People — especially guys from administrative departments — didn’t take me or my almost fully female crew seriously," says Kassymbekov.
Kassymbek says it was also a struggle to convince people that she was 'qualified' enough to tell a story about life's difficulties. "There's also ageism in Kazakhstan," she adds. "It means that if you're not over 50 and haven't had enough life experience, you can't show serious themes to viewers."
Perhaps it's why Kassymbek has taken a different tact with Fire. Instead of a heavy family drama, Kassymbek delivers a buoyant — if offbeat — film, one that doesn't delight in the suffering of its flawed characters, but instead treats each of them with compassion. But the film isn't an irreverent satire either: Instead, Kassymbek says she wanted to create something that was "very warm and cosy, while being understandable to viewers."
Below, she talks about Fire — which is being screened as part of this year's Singapore International Film Festival — and why one of the film's biggest symbols is a humble loaf of bread.
Tell me more about Fire — where did the idea for the film come from?
I always try to create stories while going to work. Sitting in the bus and looking outside of the windows, I saw simple people, how they would work, or run to work, to somewhere. In Kazakhstan, there was a period where there was a rising number of kids being abandoned in the trash and on the streets. I started to think about all these cases and life in my city in general. And that’s how my main character in Fire, Tolik, was born.
For me, Tolik is a collective image of all simple Kazakh people. In the beginning, it was a single father who has a teenaged daughter and works as a bread courier. A little later I added the whole family, because I wanted to show the real situations of a Kazakh family.
Food is a recurrent theme in the trailer for Fire — especially bread. What's the significance of food in Fire?
Food is quite important for me. We are what we eat. Our food, what we eat, our dishes are all part of our culture, traditions and daily routine. I hate to show unrealistic depictions of the food that our people eat, and I hate how foods mostly shown in Kazakh films are either too exaggerated, or vice versa, too simple.
I want to show and share with the world Kazakh traditions that are not even slightly pretentious. We thought a lot about what Tolik will deliver, and decided that its bread. In my first short film I wanted to show bread as a symbol of life, but it wasn’t good for a whole story. And exactly here in Fire, bread as a symbol of life works quite well. In our culture, bread has quite big place: It kept us safe in wars, famine.
What were some of the challenges you faced while creating Fire?
Obviously the pandemic. We planned to shoot in March of 2020, exactly when the pandemic started. We had to postpone shooting 3 times, which was quite nerve-racking. We had to change the concept because of new circumstances. We had to build each time again all our agreements with all crew, locations, departments.
Who would you say are some of your biggest inspirations?
The biggest inspiration for me was Georgian director Georgiy Danelia. He is a genius of very warm and cosy storytelling, which remains very understandable to viewers. And I adore Aki Kaurismaki. Both directors can speak with viewers about drama and tragedy, ironically. For Wes Anderson, his works were good references for framing and like the above-mentioned directors, he also shows deep stories in very a comical manner.
What is it like being a female director and creative in Kazakhstan today?
Good question. Sexism, we have: I faced it even during the shooting of my film. People — especially guys from administrative departments — didn’t take me or my almost fully female crew seriously. Yes, girls work and shoot films now, but at the same time I feel that people think that we do it as a hobby. Moreover we have ageism. Which means if you are not over 50 and haven’t had enough life experience, you can’t show serious themes to viewers. It’s hard to work as women because we face harassment, sexism, ageism. Now, the situation is better, but not enough to feel absolutely comfortable.
What sort of impression do you hope your film will leave?
The main message is really for viewers to understand that we have to support each other. Empathy, love and understanding are qualities that people have to have in the modern world. And for an issue like teenage pregnancy specifically: For girls, the first man in their life is their father, and how a good relationship with their father means good future relationships with other men. I want to show that in cases when girls become pregnant at a young age, the most important thing is for their fathers to accept and support them. For a girl, it means everything.
Get tickets to watch Fire at this year's Singapore International Film Festival here.
