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Mamay
Mamay
Ukrainian	Мамай
Directed by	Oles Sanin
Produced by	Maksym Asadchyi; Anna Chmil; Aram Gevorkyan
Starring	Viktoria Spesivtseva; Andriy Bilous; Nazl Sejtablaeva; Serhiy Romaniuk; Oles Sanin; Akhtem Seitablaev; Eldar Akimov; Emil Rasilov
Cinematography	Serhiy Mykhalchuk
Edited by	Andriy Sanin
Running time	80 minutes
Country	Ukraine
Language	Ukrainian

Mamay (Ukrainian: Мамай) is a 2003 Ukrainian language film. Based on ancient Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar folklore, this is a Ukrainian version of Romeo and Juliet. A fugitive Cossack falls in love with a stunningly beautiful Tatar woman who saves him from certain death. Their love defies age-old hatred between their respective peoples. The film features cinematography by Serhiy Mykhalchuk and a soundtrack by composer Alla Zahaikevych. It was directed by Oles Sanin. Mamay was Ukraine's 2003 submission for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Plot

Created on the basis of ancient Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar folklore. This is the Ukrainian version of Romeo and Juliet. A fugitive Cossack falls in love with a stunningly beautiful Tatar woman who saves him from imminent death.

Director Sanin wrote about the combination of three stories in the film: two epic Crimean Tatar and one invented by him — how a Tatar woman finds the youngest dying Cossack in the steppe. Brings him home, treats; falls in love with him, becomes his wife.^[1]

Cast

Viktoria Spesivtseva as Tatar Woman
Andrij Bilous as Mamay
Nazl Sejtablaeva as Little Tatar Girl
Sergey Romanyuk as Eldest Brother
Oles Sanin as Middle Brother
Akhtem Seitablaev as Tatar Warrior
Eldar Akimov as Tatar Warrior
Emil Rasilov as Tatar Warrior

Production costs

The film's budget amounted to 280 thousand dollars (₴10,298,738).^[2]

Production

The shooting lasted only 24 days.^[2] On the eve of the premiere, an agreement was signed with Golden Gate Film to distribute the film in Western film markets. This was the first such case for Ukrainian cinema.^[3] Many years later, Sanin stated that Mamai was an "experiment," his thesis, which was supposed to be seen by a very narrow circle of viewers.^[4]