Copyright: Soros Foundation-Kyrgyzstan, Institute for Social and Gender Policy (Russia), Network Women's Program of the Open Society Institute, International Gender Policy Network (Czech Republic)
Sairash was contentedly married for more than a quarter century until the day when her husband took a second, younger wife. Sairash—who would not accept her new circumstances, including the quarrels and insults—walked out. Her community and relatives blamed her, divorce laws would protect her, and any division of property would inflict pain on her beloved children. Though Sairash's decision set her on a path of hardship, it was the path to her true self: strong, independent, and capable of standing up for her own beliefs. Sairash's experience demonstrates that the personal is indeed political. This film is part of the Gender Montage: Films from Post-Soviet Space film series. The film has both English and Russian subtitles.