Nikah! (2024) Reel Asian Film Festival Review: A Marriage Story

As her younger sister gets married, 27-year-old Uyghur woman Dilber (Guzalnur Uchqun) needs to deal with the societal pressure as according to their opinion it is high time for her to get married too.

Director Mukkadas Mijit and Bastien Ehouzan denote the importance of identity in exploring one’s freedom and individual expressions. At 55 minutes, this movie could easily be mistaken for a documentary, but the fictionalized realism depicted in the storyline makes it otherwise.

While traditionalism is exploited and somehow overpowers modernism, Dilber, who resides in her hometown of Ürümchi, is forced to confront her choices, ideals and aspirations. Although just like any normal girl, she uses her phone and spends most of her time engaged in social media interactions, the hard truth inside her home is that she has to marry whatever be it.

Her parents bring her suitors- one even being a married man in search of a second wife, conditions being that she has not previously dated anyone and is willing to spend her whole life taking care of his two children and his sick mother. Naturally, a desperate Dilber seeks another alternative, internally refusing to submit to this disgusting offer.

The story progresses as superstitions, beliefs, ultimatums, ideals and identities are called into question, rerouting back to the age-old concept- The parents/elders are always right. But, in real, are they? Not necessarily.

The movie explores the perceptions drawn by the Uyghur diaspora in the world in the form of Dilber’s best friend, Gulnur, located in Paris, who routinely communicates with Dilber back in Ürümchi and urges her to move to Paris. In that context, as an escape route, Gulnur proposes Dilber to marry a friend of hers who is also based in Paris.

With an orchestration of intriguing contemporary dance sequences expressing the inner feelings of Dilber, the story depicts the distinction between what can be told and what cannot.

The story unfolds as Dilber resolutely deals with the extremely complex societal setting, sans ideology or dramatization with a perspective channeling the adaptation of modernity’s intersections with tradition and prevailing philosophy.

In addition to being authentic, this film presents the Uyghur community’s exquisite cuisine, music, and dancing to the globe.