Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan

According to an old Kyrgyz proverb, a good marriage always begins with tears. If this were truly the case, then this Central Asian country would be a newlywed's paradise. Among the traditions often practiced here is the kidnapping of young girls, who are subsequently violently forced into marriage by the family of the groom. "Stop struggling and don't cry anymore. In time you will get used to it, after all we were also kidnapped when we were young." These are the words of two older women trying to calm down the newly kidnapped girl, who is cowering in fear in the corner of her "new home." Only in extraordinary cases do these girls succeed in escaping. The reasons for the continuance of this tradition, whose practice is in conflict with the law, are many. One is the extremely patriarchal model of the functioning of the Kyrgyz society, which results in many men and women being convinced of the nature of male dominance. Another reason is the financial situation of many families, who cannot afford to pay the requested monetary sum to the family of the girl. At the end of the film, we are also witness to a dramatic scene where young Kairgul on her way to school is shoved into a car by several men.