Project: The Call of the Kalni

A documentary about the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin.
2024, 89 min.

Broadcast on GTRK Vostok, TRK Russky Mir and VGTRK Russia K (Kultura).

Producers: Kira Magid, Sergey Turkin.
Director: Anton Khrekov.
Screenplay: Sergey Turkin, Kira Magid.
The project was supported by the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives.

The film tells the story of Sakhalin’s indigenous peoples: their history, customs and culture, and their life today. Among its characters are young people who choose to stay, live and work on Sakhalin. At the center of the story is the patriarch of Nivkh literature, Vladimir Sangi — author of the Nivkh primer and the Nivkh language textbook, and publisher of Russian classics translated into Nivkh.

The Call of the Kalni

Episode One.
CHUKH! CHUKH.

We visit the Teni Gu festival in the Nivkh village of Chir-Unvd and watch an electrifying performance by the Kekh ensemble and other ethnic groups. We learn about the ritual of feeding the sea spirits — after all, the whole life of the Nivkh depends on fish.

Episode Two.
THE BEAR PIPE.

This wind instrument is made from a hogweed that has grown on Sakhalin and in the Far East since ancient times — a relative of the hogweed every summer gardener knows well. We sit in on a kalni lesson given by Anastasia Bugrey, a keeper of folk traditions, to her student Aisana Nitkuk.

Episode Three.
THE LAND AND THE NIVKH.

You will learn about the origins of the Nivkh and the Ainu, the indigenous peoples of Sakhalin whom Anton Chekhov met during his journey to the island. Excerpts from his book Sakhalin Island are read by People’s Artist of Russia Boris Shcherbakov.

Episode Four.
UPOLTUZ.

The history of indigenous peoples under Soviet rule is a dramatic one. They greeted the revolution with enthusiasm, but that enthusiasm soon ran dry. They were forcibly resettled, herded into collective farms and made to overfish and overhunt for fur. They were closely watched by the UpolTuz — the Commissioner for Native Affairs.

Episode Five.
THE STRONGEST.

Despite the hard years of forced collectivization and repression, the Nivkh managed to preserve their way of life and even their numbers. In the film’s final chapter you will see that their traditions are alive, preserved and evolving. The NUNE forum in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk shows ethnic rituals in which young members of indigenous communities connect with their heritage.