Arquivo

Kidnapping the bride is a common way of managing to get married in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet Republic. This old custom has spread since the independence of the country and increase in poverty, to the extent that the men cannot find a bride because they do not have the means to pay the dowery. The bridegroom, in the company of several friends will generally rent a car, keep a look-out for the girl, and seize a hold of her as she passes by in the street. There are cases in which the kidnapping is by consent - when the girl is involved with the boy. The majority of the girls, however, do not know who the kidnapper is and do not wish to marry him. The documentary is on cases such as these.