Self-Return to Crimea

Directed by Anna Tsyhyma

What did Crimean Tatars go through when returning to Crimea after decades of exile in the late 1980s? The right to buy a house, get a residence permit without which they cannot be hired - these rights were ones that Crimean Tatars had to fight for through numerous protests, constant pressure, and negotiations with local officials. They faced blatant racism on a daily basis. The government-controlled media pummeled the population with propaganda. Yet pickets from Moscow to Taman and throughout Crimea, petitions, peaceful marches, self-immolation, and, finally, the self-return of land, which the authorities called "squatting", all this eventually worked. This film is the story of an entire people's return, a story of victory in opposition to the system and thanks to cohesion. However, many had to lose their home for the second time after the Russian occupation of the peninsula in 2014. Veterans of the Crimean Tatar movement as well as immigrants are the heroes of this movie.