I’m leaving Moscow for Arsk, I’ll start sewing ichigi!
A feature film was shot for a documentary about the Kazan seam
Director Bay Khayrullin presented the short film Greetings from Klachi (0+) in at Tamyrlar yurt in early July. This is a feature film supplement to the documentary film The Kazan Seam. The heroine of the film leaves Moscow and opens her own shoe line — just like in life.
How one film was shot, but two came out
Bay Khayrullin previously shot the film Bilyar. Heritage Storeroom and the short fiction film Let's Go Outside at his own expense, using neural networks for animation.
As for the new film, as Khayrullin points out, the team initially shot a feature documentary, but after the first edit they decided to split the material into two parts. It seems that if they had been combined, for example, by sacrificing some of the synchronicities, it would have been interesting. But that is the will of the authors.
This is how The Kazan Seam (0+) appeared first. We wrote about this film in detail. It will be shown at Altyn Minbar festival in the fall. This is an hour-long story about the seam technology, ichigs, the Arsk factory and the people who worked there. At some point, Khayrullin himself appears in the frame, as well as producer (and designer) Mira Rakhmat. They explain why they took on the filming of the film.
But the main characters are still older people, like the Gilyaziyev couple: Anas and Sufiya worked their entire lives in manual shoe production. The director of the factory in 1979-1999, Ildus Gaynutdinov, points out that in the 90s, a market economy came and Chinese shoes were three times cheaper than ordered ones. At the same time, the film also features modern designers who sew a little, but at a high price.
Khayrullin is going to upload the film to paid platforms, and also show it in the village of Klachi. Initially, the film was called Greetings from Klachi.
Ramazan and Vali Gaynullins grew up in this village, who, having mastered the business of producing ichigs, returned home. In Soviet times, there was a shoe factory here. In 1972, it moved to Arsk. In 2015, the village had a population of 89. In 2024, the ethno festival Arsk Ichigi was held here.
New ideas are needed!
The film begins with a view of Moscow's high-rises, because the main character Leyla (Adelya Khasanova, actress at the Tinchurin Theatre) lives in the capital. She designs shoes for the mass market. Her boss, Larisa Anatolyevna (Yelena Kalaganova from the Youth Theatre), demands new ideas, saying that everything offered is somehow old, that our competitors produced all this three years ago!
At home, Leyla is consoled by her grandmother (Zuleykha Khakimzyanova from the Tinchurin Theatre). From this point on, the film switches to the Tatar language. As inspiration, she shows her the ichigi that her grandfather Miftakh made for the wedding. Only then the family couldn't resist a lucrative job offer and moved to Moscow.
Grandmother explains why she didn't show her granddaughter the ichigi — she always resisted such things: “Don't call me Leyla. Don't turn on Tatar songs. Echpochmaks make you fat.”
Leyla goes to look for Grandpa Gosman's friend in Arsk. And there his grandson Gerey (Buinsky actor Irek Gainutdinov) is talking to the landlord Zulfiya (Khalida Sungatullina from the Kariyev Theatre). He has two weeks to pay off his debts.
Leyla takes a taxi to Arsk at breakneck speed (by the way, she is driven by one of the cameramen, Nurshat Askhadullin). Meanwhile, Larisa Anatolyevna is not thrilled with the photos of the ichigi sent.
A few minutes of conversation — and Leyla leaves Moscow and decides to set up her own business with Gerey producing ichigi. The romantic line is only outlined here, but it seems that such a sharp decision can only be explained by sympathy.
Again a holiday in the village
Well, and in the finale in the very village of Klachi, where Gerey grew up, they organize a fashion show with DJ music and models for several bloggers who arrived in the coolest cars.
In the meantime, the heroes study the technology of the Kazan seam, Leila takes the necessary ornaments from the platbands. Somewhere, other designers shake their heads in bewilderment — why transfer wooden patterns to leather. In general, the film has many unfinished stories. However, Khayrullin promises that in the end, Larisa Anatolyevna will call Leila. Probably, it will finally get through to her. And, apparently, she will create intrigue.
At the same time, the story with the platbands is very typical. A city girl takes pictures of them on her phone, and a country boy says: wow, my eyes have gotten used to it, I didn’t notice. Modern designers look at traditions not from the point of view of everyday life, but from the point of view of aesthetics, beauty, emotions — because future buyers will also study them. The story, when the national code is reassembled in the format of short videos, local elements, accessories, bright flashes, post-modernism, still requires comprehension. But this will already be other cinema.
