Do You Know That I’m With You is an artistic research-based film that explores the story of Gülem, a forgotten goddess.

Gülem is a mystical figure from Uyghur oral tradition linked to carpet weaving, whose own fragmented legacy symbolising female weavers whose history has been silenced and forgotten. Through an effort to explore the political erasure of female history in the Uyghur region of China, filmmaker Darya Andijan embarks on a journey across Transoxiana to try to piece together Gülem’s presence while also attempting to reclaim her own culture.

“Uyghur people have a long tradition of remembering history through fiction,” says Andijan. “This is a way also to get away from censorship, but also try to retain the ownership of our own history that is written by ourselves. I felt that that this was one of the ways, by passing on the knowledge of this goddess.”

The film presents an interplay between different voiceovers, images, and poetic verses that fight to reclaim memory and identity. It also explores the filmmaker’s personal journey of returning to Central Asia to witness the art of weaving and to reclaom her language and culture through storytelling.

AC