Ordered to Forget (2014)

Interesting facts

Ordered to Forget is a 2014 Russian film directed by Hussein Erkenov.

Production

Initially, the film held "National Film of Russia" status, which entitled it to state budget funding; in practice, however, it was produced using private donations. Abubakar Arsamakov served as the general sponsor. The film’s working title was Pepel (Ash). Although the filmmakers originally intended to release it under that name, they had to change it following the release of a TV series of the same name.

After the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was restored, the Galanchozhsky District—where these events took place—was not re-established. The area is currently uninhabited, and access is restricted to those with special permits. Consequently, filming took place in the Shatoysky, Kurchaloyevsky, and Itum-Kalinsky districts of Chechnya. The choice of director was influenced by the fact that Erkenov himself belongs to a deported people—the Karachays.

In one scene, soldiers shoot hospital patients; a real-life incident of this nature occurred in Urus-Martan. In another scene, a local administration worker named Raikhan refuses to sign a denunciation. This character was based on the grandmother of Ruslan Kokonaev—the film's producer, co-writer, and a minor actor—who was exiled to Siberia for a similar act of defiance and ultimately died there.

The film features an accordion that once belonged to the Chechen musician and composer Umar Dimaev. It was this very instrument that Dimaev used to boost the morale of his fellow Chechens during the years of deportation. In the film, he is played by Dimaev’s son Amarbek.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.