Kazakh comedy film sparks controversy over tribal issues and is pulled from theaters

Italian media: Kazakhstani comedy film (withdrawn from release) sparks tribalism controversy

The comedy film "Where are you from (tribe)?" (Ruyn kim?) attempts to satirize the deeply rooted prejudices still present in Kazakh society. However, even after removing explicit mentions of the Jalair tribe (the tribe of the current president Tokaev) or the Chaplysh tribe (the tribe of former president Nazarbayev) at the last moment, it failed to avoid the anger of some politicians, who claimed that the film "undermined national unity from within." Eventually, the production company decided to suspend the screening of the film.

Astana (Asia News) - The release of the comedy film "Where are you from (tribe)?" (Ruyn kim?) triggered a major controversy in Kazakhstan. The film was banned shortly after its release due to criticism from member of the Amanat Party, Erlan Sairov. Sairov accused the film of "promoting tribalism and threatening the division of the Kazakh nation."

The screenwriter considered this as an act of censorship, and even before the film's release, people were forced to remove references to tribes in the dialogue because the current president, Kassym-Zhomart Tokaev, is from the Jalair tribe.

Sairov also insisted, "The film links young people's psychology with their ethnic origin, which represents a dangerous trend that could internally undermine our national unity."

In fact, in Kazakhstan, the question "Where are you from?" is very common when people first meet each other and in various social situations, and the answer often reflects the person's tribal identity.

However, the legislator considers this a threat and called for the Ministry of Culture and Information to establish a permanent committee to verify the "ideology" promoted by upcoming films.

The production company, Tiger Films, initially intended to use these criticisms for promotion, but later decided not to escalate tensions and withdrew the comedy from theaters.

The company's director, Akbota Kajsenova, assured that the creators had good intentions, "They tried to show through humor and satire that tribal family divisions and attempts to place one tribe above others are merely common prejudices."

The production of the film did not violate any laws, and the decision to voluntarily suspend the screening was to "avoid ambiguity and unnecessary arguments."

The scriptwriter of the film "Ruyn kim?" Nurzhan Erkinuly stated that colleagues and audience members at the premiere "did not find any destructive factors or intent to divide Kazakh society."

He also added, "We would not be foolish enough to spend a lot of money making a film that would provoke tribal issues and make everyone uncomfortable"; instead, our goal was to promote the awareness of true unity among the people.

Evidently, the censorship system in Kazakhstan has indeed become increasingly strict, and people cannot freely express opinions on sensitive topics that previously would not have caused much uproar. Erkinuly said that in this way, "people's freedom of creation is suppressed, and the freedom of choice of the audience is also deprived, and the government dictates what movies the public can watch and cannot watch."

Sairov responded, "We are not discussing censorship," but rather "it seems inappropriate to divide Kazakhs along tribal lines in the current context of geopolitical instability," because this could provide external forces with an opportunity to split the country. The legislator did not specify which kind of interference he referred to.