42° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARIES COMPETITION
GINGERBREAD FOR HER DAD
by Alina Mustafina
Country: Kazakhstan
Year: 2024
Duration: 84'
Together with her daughter and granddaughter (the director), Lyabiba embarks on a journey from Kazakhstan to Poland to find the mass grave where her father was buried. As these three generations of women travel through their native village in Tatarstan, they aren’t only searching for physical remains but also trying to restore the ties that have been lost between them. Along the way, they confront post-colonial Soviet traumas and search for a sense of home and identity. These themes are acutely felt by many Kazakhs. This journey takes place against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, with many Russians moving to Kazakhstan because of mobilization.
Biography
film director
Alina Mustafina
(Kazakhstan) is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker. Her degrees in Journalism and Filmmaking from Kazakhstan, the UAE (NYFA), and Spain (ESCAC), along with her professional work and life experiences in all these countries, shaped her work. She is also a non-fiction writer. Her book about her life experiences in Dubai became a non-fiction bestseller in Kazakhstan in 2021 and was published with success in Russia. Her short documentary Ander (2020) was realized under the mentorship of Oscar-nominated director Rithy Panh and won Best Documentary at the Ajyal Film Festival in Doha. Her previous short Rescue Masha was selected in Istanbul, Riga, and Moscow. Gingerbread of Her Dad is her first feature documentary.
FILMOGRAFIA
Rescue Masha (cm, doc, 2018), Ander (cm, doc, 2020), Gingerbread of Her Dad (doc, 2024).
Declaration
film director
“I call myself a nomad, just as my ancestors were. I am a Kazakh with two Turkish children and two Tatar grandmothers. I’ve been living abroad for 14 years, moving through five different countries. Throughout endless adaptations here and there, I’ve grown distant from my family, feeling like a stranger even in my own country. I speak four languages, none of them my native tongue. A couple of years ago, I decided to return to my hometown and live there for a while, seeking answers to my own questions: Where is home? Where am I headed? Where do I belong given my colonial past? I’ve chosen to seek these answers alongside the women in my family, embarking on a journey to Eastern Europe, where my great-grandfather died in the Second World War and was buried in a mass grave. I’ve persuaded my mom and grandma to make this journey, hoping to find answers to the pressing questions that trouble both my country and me. These are questions about our identity as Kazakhs who, like me, don’t speak our native language—those who have no Russian blood yet think, talk, and create in Russian.”
Cast
& Credits
DIRECTOR, SCREENPLAY: Alina Mustafina. CINEMATOGRAPHY: Alexey Elagin. EDITING: Valentina Bek, Aydan Serik. MUSIC: Akmaral Mergen. SOUND: Alexander Zhizhov, Irena Suska, Dmitry Vasilyev. CAST: Lyabiba Sermukhamedova, Alina Mustafina, Alissa Mustafina. PRODUCTION: Akzhol-Bi Sarsembayev, Erkezhan Maksut
CONTACT: Alina Mustafina nomadfilmmaker@gmail.com
