The Deutscher Kompositions-Förderpreis was awarded to composer Akmaral Zykayeva (aka Mergen), who will create an auteur soundtrack for May it be a Girl in close collaboration with director Katerina Suvorova and producer Viktoriya Kalashnikova. The film concerns Kazakhstani women whose names indicate their parents’ wishes to have had a boy.
Ulbolsyn – let it be a boy. Ulbike – a boy girl; Ulkutem – I am waiting for a boy; Ulkayda – where is the boy?; Kyzdygoy – no more girls!; Burul – turn around, go back! These are some of the names (and their meanings) given to daughters by disappointed parents. Offering portraits of several of these, the film will reflect on the meaning and purpose of names, leading to an examination of the place of women in Kazakh families and society.
“Every [chapter] will observe the character for several months amidst the events of her life, which will reflect her position in the society, and the way the name has influenced her,” says director Katerina Suvorova. “We will also show their inner world in a poetic way – their unconsciousness, made up of dreams, memories and feelings, which lies outside of rules and hierarchies.”
“I too grew up in a family where my parents and grandparents lament about the birth of only daughters,” she says in the project notes. “Our protagonists were born and live their lives fulfilling an ancient tradition, which relevance has not been rethought at the present. Their sincerity helps us to find out how it feels to live within the paradigm of this tradition and how to carry one’s name as a flag – even when it reminds you of your own underprivileged position.”
The €120,000 budget film is produced by Berlin-based Kazakh producer Viktoriya Kalashnikova. The production is currently looking to finalise the five women who will be featured as characters in the film, and work is about to commence on the script.
Composer Mergen is an independent Kazakh artist, composer, singer-songwriter, sound producer and violinist who graduated from Kazakh State Conservatory in violin class and
IAP from Musician’s Institute, Hollywood USA. She outlined her plans for the film’s soundtrack.
“Since the film is fragmented into ‘novels’, we have several ways to unite the narrative and emotional lines. The first one is to find the right instruments and sound palette. Here we need to follow the visual frame in the sound and colour relation. Compare it to choosing a fabric to [make] a stunning dress,” she advises.
“The second is uniting the stories,” Mergen continues. “We will make a unique sound for each novel according to our sound palette. It will come either through the figures of melody or rhythm, playable soundscapes or maybe even vocalizes as sound strokes… At the end of the film, all the layers, details and melodies from the novels will unite into one composition, which will sound denser. We will hear the intonations of our protagonists simultaneously to emotional reflection of a portrait of a woman in our society, with its pain, tenderness, obedience and protest.”
“The third [is] the uniqueness of the sound. Since we are portraying a Kazakh woman, we need to interact with the Kazakh cultural code, which means we need to work with Kazakh semantics in music, through the melodies, rhythms and harmony according again to our sound palette, therefore it might lead us to new Vazakh contemporary sounds. We might use ethnic instruments as well. Our goal is to transmit the feeling of Kazakhness while not directly quoting it and staying within the international soundscape. That will create a unique sound.”
The Deutscher Kompositions-Förderpreis was given to May it be a Girl in order to strengthen the artistic cooperation between the filmmakers and composer Mergen, and comes with a cash award of €2,500.
