Directed by Daria Razumnikova
Ingush carpet felting was once considered a unique and sacred craft. Carpets were woven to bless a new family with a good life or to ward off evil spirits. Messages for the family clan were encoded within the carpet’s symbolic decorations. The skill of felting carpets was traditionally passed down from mother to daughter. But with the mass deportations of the Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia in 1944, a vibrant tradition of folk art was extinguished. Historian Tanzila Dzaurova, the protagonist in Daria Razumnikova’s short doc The Carpets Speak, is not only trying to restore Ingushetia’s lost art of carpet felting, she’s also trying to restore her cultural identity. As we follow her journey, we witness her determination to reclaim a part of her identity that was lost by previous generations. For Tanzila, the act of reviving the art of carpet felting serves as a form of personal empowerment as well as a means of healing and connecting with her roots. What’s more, by gathering the women in her community together to restore this ancient art, she’s providing them with hard-to-find economic opportunities.
Born in Moscow in 1988, Daria Razumnikova graduated from the Higher School of Journalism in 2012. Her short fiction films Not a Word About Your Mother and Registrar and her documentary The King of Birds have been screened and won awards at both Russian and international festivals. Razumnikova has also worked as a cinematographer, director and editor on charitable projects including Music for Peace and the Vladimir Potanin Charity Foundation. The Carpets Speak is her most recent documentary film and has been featured at international film festivals in Russia and Romania.
