Mamay

The film is set on the steppes of Crimea. The time is hundreds of years ago. The steppe lies on the edge of two worlds. East is on one side and West on the other. Nomad and farmer meet here as well. Mamay, a Cossack, moves across this country. He comes upon Omai, who is Tatar. A love grows between the two. The two sides are enemies. The story is drawn from Ukrainian and Tatar folk tales, and what it is about is honour and the struggle for freedom. The title carries several meanings at once. In the Turkic languages mamay means nobody, it was also the name of a well known Mongol commander, and in Persian tales it means the spirit of the steppe. Andrii Bilous and Viktoria Spesivtseva appear in the eighty minute film, a Ukrainian production Oles Sanin finished in 2003.