2022 | Documentary | 25 min. | Russia
U YEN is a Mari band of eight young musicians who play vibrant ethno punk in Yoshkar-Ola and beyond. The peculiarity of the band is in their search for a new sound through combining traditional folk instruments (shuvyr, eya-kovyzh, kusle, kong-kong, shiyaltysh) with modern electronic beats. They are talented and flamboyant. They are very different but are all united by the common idea of preserving and popularizing the Mari culture through their art. But is the Mari culture ready for such experiments?
Directors Statement
The essence of any documentary is a unique character and his history. We were lucky, because we found eight such characters. What they do on stage is pure magic, that originates in traditional Mari religion. First time I came across the guys from U YEN was in 2021 when I stumbled on their educational and entertaining video about the types of Mari instruments and how fun it is to play them nowadays. Since then, I always kept an eye on them. I realized that we had a common goal of preserving and popularizing Mari culture through art. So, as soon as I felt I was ready to make my first documentary, I immediately contacted the band. Before that, I had only filmed fiction films. My latest short film was called “Not Ivan or How to Train a Hero”, and it was also devoted to the topic of preserving Mari culture, honoring the memory of your ancestors, and believing in your own strength. I have Mari blood running through my veins, I was born and raised here, and with my art I want to express gratitude to my small Motherland. The whole filming process was surrounded with mystery. On the very first day of filming, I got into a car incident: I went to buy supplies for the film crew and the band, and on my way back another car crashed into mine. In the scripted scene, which we were filming in Kolokudo Village, according to the script, the band’s van was supposed to crash through the gates. But, unfortunately, the gates decided not to wait for the crash and collapsed prematurely right on top of our precious cameraman Dmitry Novikov and his equally precious camera. But everything started going smoothly as soon as our executive producer Maksim Bryzgalov got a duck – a Finno-Ugric symbol of the universe, depicted on U YEN’s logo. The duck played its part in the film and is now living in the band leader’s home. I’m happy that I had the honor to introduce the world to these extraordinary musicians. I’m sure they have a great future, because they are an amazing eight who are playing vibrant ethno punk in Yoshkar-Ola and beyond. They are talented and flamboyant. They are very different but are all united by the common idea of preserving and popularizing the Mari culture through their art. I like that they’re not afraid of experimenting with the sound and in doing so, they are using traditional folk instruments such as shuvyr, eya-kovyzh, accordion, kusle, kong-kong, shyn, shyshpyk, shiyaltysh, etc.
Director: Denis Shably
Producers: Denis Shably and Olga Filonova
Сast: Oleg Loginov, Dmitry Mosunov, Artyom Pyagay, Stepan Sverchkov, Anastasia Fedorova, Konstantin Yankov, Ivan Kamenshchikov and Ilya Kislitsyn
Studio: FEELDOC
