For over 300 years, Crimean Tatars have faced extreme persecution. Genocide, mass deportations and arbitrary arrests have characterised the Russian Federations’ treatment of Crimea’s indigenous people, whose population in the region has decreased by up to 46%.

Tomorrow Comes Yesterday showcases the heartbreaking reality for Crimean Tatars following Russia’s invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 - exactly 70 years after Stalin ordered the mass deportation of all 200,000 Crimeans from the region in 1944. Since the annexation, activists, professors, religious figures and political leaders have been arrested from their homes under false charges of terrorism, tearing families apart and attempting to dilute the population through what has become known as ‘Hybrid Genocide’.

The documentary focuses on a family of four children whose father Marlen Suleymanov has been imprisoned, along with seven other Crimean Tatars, under false charges of terrorism. Sayid, the oldest son of the family, is forced to become the man of the house at just 12, working to support his family. He is one of over 100 children with fathers in prison and families in dire situations:

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‘‘I’d give anything, probably even my soul, to release my father and all Muslims from prison,” Sayid says, ‘so that they can see their wives, kids, and mothers, so that they can feel freedom and love―if Allah wills so.’’

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The film also gives highlights the story of Zodie, whose son was imprisoned on false charges and is now helping to raise her daughter-in-law's grandchildren.This is the second time in her life that she has experienced Russia’s attempt to exterminate her people: ‘‘When they came the first time, they were at the door at 6 am barging in with rifles and dogs,” she recalls, ‘I immediately thought of 1937. It's the same repressions, the same old stuff.’’

Throughout the film, the female protagonists share memories of brutal arrests, searches and kidnappings, and their hope that their husbands will be released - even when they are informed that each of their loved ones will receive 16 to 19 years in prison.

You can watch Tomorrow Comes Yesterday for the entire month of June on YouTube. Special thanks to filmmaker Kirsten Gainet for shedding light on this issue and allowing us to show this important film to the world.

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