40 Days of Silence

Saodat Ismailova : 2014
Chilla

Bibicha is a young woman who suddenly refuses to speak and conceals herself from villagers in the house of her grandmother Khanjarmomo. Khanjarmomo lives with her illegally born granddaughter Sharifa. They both support Bibicha in her vow of forty days of silence, which she carries out in the hope of being rejoined by her recently disappeared lover. Yet Khanjarmomo doubts the girl's motives: is the vow really for the sake of her beloved, or is she trying to hide an illicit pregnancy? The house and the landscape outside at least offer Bibicha certain sensory distractions: the taste of honey, the texture of a wall, an eye-catching bedspread, the view out over a sea of cloud, water fizzling on the stove. But it is not just Bibicha under strain, as her aunt's frantic text messaging, her grandmother's rueful acknowledgement of the stories of marital strife on the radio, and her little cousin's illegitimate status bear witness to. A trip into an unconscious and intimate female world. The story of four generations of Uzbek women in key moments of their lives, who have struggled with their heritage, their culture and their incompatible views on life. Saodat Ismailova's film, her feature debut, premiered at Berlin International Film Festival 2014.