An Examination of Costume Designs in the Film "The Queen of the Mountains" in the Context of Traditional Kyrgyz Women’s Clothing

Abstract

The film "The Queen of the Mountains" (Kurmanjan Datka) is one of the remarkable historical films of Kyrgyz cinema, depicting the struggle of Kurmanjan Datka, one of the most important female figures in Kyrgyz history, who is remembered as an exemplary wife, a good mother, and a successful commander. Directed by Sadyk Sher Niyaz, the film's world premiere was held in 2014 at the International Montreal Film Festival in Canada, and in the same year, it was nominated for the Oscar in the "Best Foreign Language Film" category representing Kyrgyzstan.

This study aims to examine the women's costumes in the film "The Queen of the Mountains" in the context of traditional Kyrgyz women's clothing. In the study, the survey model, one of the qualitative research methods, was used, and the findings obtained were evaluated in terms of their conformity with traditional Kyrgyz women's clothing based on their visual characteristics. The examination of the costumes was limited to the character of Kurmanjan Datka in the film. The population of the study consists of the women's costumes used in the film. The sample was selected through purposive sampling, one of the non-probability sampling methods, from among the costumes used by the protagonist Kurmanjan Datka. Eleven costumes depicting the periods of childhood, youth, and old age, and differing from one another according to the context in which they were used, were examined. The film is an extremely important work in terms of reflecting the history and cultural elements of the Kyrgyz people. In this respect, the film was meticulously examined, and the data were evaluated within the framework of elements belonging to Kyrgyz culture.