Vice has posted an interview with filmmaker Aleksey Fedorchenko whose ‘Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari,’ explores the rituals of a pagan tribe in the Russian Urals. The article states:
The film is compiled from 23 stories of 23 women—an occasionally heartbreaking, occasionally hilarious exploration of the real-life sexuality and social behaviour, traditions and rituals still widely practiced by Mari people.
Reality and magic are closely intertwined in Mari culture: The great towering birch can jinx and forgive, bread and birds are sacrificed to the gods in sacred groves, women make love with wind, and young girls have to blow a special pipe on the top of the hill to celebrate the arrival of their first period.
