YAKUTSK, March 17. /TASS/. The first documentary about Osuokhai - the Yakut ritual circle dance - will be released in the summer of 2025, the film's director Mila Kudryashova told TASS.

"We are about to finish editing a film about the Yakut ritual dance of thanksgiving, an appeal to nature's deities and spirits. The Osuokhai dance symbolizes the eternal cycle of life, its renewal, infinity, and the eternity of life. When dancing in a circle, people feel they are an integral part of the universe, which is majestic and inspiring. In the summer of 2025, the first documentary about the Yakut Osuokhai will be presented at festivals and on television," she said, noting the project had won the Foundation for Support of Regional Cinema's grant competition "Russia - Look into the Future - 2024."

The film will touch upon Osuokhai as a cultural phenomenon, the foundation of the Sakha people's world perception. "The cycle in our film is Osuokhai, which implies both a change of seasons and a change of generations. We are using unique chronicles of 1944, 1947, 1957 and 2012. We want to capture now, in the early 21st century, what a tradition is like and what we must preserve carefully," she continued. "That's why we are looking for a cycle of traditions in chronicles and in modern times."

Recording traditions

The documentary captures the dance tradition. "This film is about meanings, images, the ongoing cycle in nature and in traditions," she added. "It doesn't explore, it rather immerses the audience into the tradition and captures the most iconic existing moments."

The circle dance's main figure is the lead singer, without whom no circle dance works. "The famous lead singers of the past were particularly gifted people, skilled in the magic of words. They continued practices of white shamans to connect earthly life with cosmic life. They were very popular and loved by the people. The lead singer is an improvising poet, a restless dancer with a strong Yakut folk voice," the film director said.

In The Circle documentary, the Osuokhai lead singer is Varvara Stepanova - a khomus virtuoso, who won the global title at an international competition, held every ten years. Her voice will sound the film episodes, related to Osuokhai performance. The lead singer improvises, sings about what attracts attention at the moment, about what the singer wants to tell the world.

The director's approach

The Circle continues the director's series on creativity of national cultures, namely, Yakut creators, be they artists, actors, directors, or museum staff. "I would like to note there are no more than 500,000 Yakut in the world, and nowadays we are witnessing the "Yakut cultural miracle", the facts of which have been marked by UNESCO, the Guinness Book of Records, and, as for cinema, by prizes from most prestigious international festivals," the director said.

The characters and the team speak Yakut, thus the director makes the film in two languages - Yakut and Russian. "While working with material in another language, I've discovered something - an emotionally spoken phrase always remains in the film, unlike excessive information that prevents from immersing into the world of our characters. I perceive a language emotionally and rhythmically, intuitively understanding the content, thus I perceive the language not as information, but as music," the director told TASS.

She works in the genre of observation, avoiding interviews. She makes a video sequence like in a feature film. "Text translations have once again convinced me the approach was correct - emotion is the artistic truth of documentaries. The film has many close-ups of performers and Osuokhai participants, thus offering a non-verbal communication with representatives of the ancient people. Our circle will be opened, inviting everyone to join this common ritual of wishing well and prosperity," she said in conclusion.