LET ME CIRCLE AROUND YOU

Belgium, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Hungary | 2025 | 12 min | col | Kazakh, Russian

In the Kazakh language, there is a term that is untranslatable: “aynalayn,” which is an expression of love and protection, a “caress in the form of a word.” Its syllables are written and reiterated like a mantra by the film director, evoking a way of loving and taking care of others. They recall her faraway home, the people who live there, the gestures they perform every day, and the meaning they give to the world. The otherness of the origins overlaps with the here and now of the diaspora. Memory overwrites the present. From the thread woven by words emerge sounds – fragments of conversations, songs, music – as well as images – daily life, cures, rituals. A film-spell in which language outlines the perimeter of identity, belonging, and memory: “aynalayn” is a magical word that encapsulates a universe of meaning and enables us to glimpse a form of being in the world and among loved ones. (M.M.)