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 ESCAPE TO PARADISE
Director: Nino Jacusso
Cast: Duzgun Ayhan, Fidan Firat,
Walo Luond
Switzerland 2001 / 90m / Turkish with English
subtitles
A Kurdish refugee family who are applying for political
asylum in Switzerland are sent to an immigration centre. Their
future will only be secure if they can present a convincing
case. They turn to a Swiss man who claims he can supply them
with the documents and stories which will convince the
immigration authorities.
 A HANDFUL OF GRASS
Director: Roland Suso Richter
Cast: Oliver Korittke,
Arman Kuru, Lisa Martinek, Ercan Durmaz
Germany 1999 / 114m
/ Kirmanji and German with English subtitles
Ten-year-old Kendal lives in a poor Kurdish village. His
uncle who is involved in drugs trafficking in Hamburg, takes
Kendal to Germany. After his uncle is arrested, the boy is
looked after by a German taxi driver, but eventually ends up
in a children’s home. His uncle tracks him down, and Kendal
soon begins work as a drug pusher.
 HEJAR (Büyük Adam Küçük Ask)
Director: Handan Ipekci
Cast: Dilan Ercetin, Sukran
Gungor, Fusun Demirel, Yildiz Kenter
Turkey 2001 / 120m /
Turkish and Kurdish with English subtitles
This controversial – and recently banned – film was
unanimously nominated to represent Turkey at the Academy
Awards in the Best Foreign Film category. At the film's heart
is the relationship between a nationalist, authoritarian judge
(Sukran Gungor) and a five-year-old Kurdish orphan (Dilan
Ercetin). The judge, who is the girl's neighbour, takes her in
following a botched police raid that results in the death of
her guardian. HEJAR was the winner of several awards,
including Best Picture, at Turkey’s prestigious Golden Orange
Film Festival (2001). Also stars veteran theatre and film
actress Yildiz Kenter.
 HOUSE OF HEARTS
Director: Elizabeth Rygard
Cast: Bora Akkas, Mazlum
Cimen, Sebnem Kostem
Germany 2002 / 88m / Turkish with
English subtitles
A drama of separation seen through the eyes of a
seven-year-old boy, Osman, whose parents leave Turkey to work
in Europe. The drama is enveloped in the expressive Anatolian
music, the overwhelming forces of nature and traditional
poetry. Together they form some of the riches Osman carries in
the suitcase that accompanies him to his new life.
 INNOWHERELAND
Director: Tayfun Pirselimoglu
Cast: Zuhal Olcay, Parkan
Ozturan, Michael Mendl
Turkey-Germany 2001 / 94m / Turkish
with English subtitles
Forty year old Sukrun tries to keep her only son Veysel
away from the political activism in which her late husband was
involved, and which has brought the family so much suffering.
But one day Veysel disappears and Sukran’s attempts to find
him meet only with silence from the authorities.
 IN THIS WORLD
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Script: Tony
Grisoni
Cast: Jamal Udin Mommand, Enayatullah
Jumadin
Britain 2002 / 89m
Jamal Udin Torabi is a young Afghan refugee seeking asylum
in this country. Born in Peshawar in the North West province
of Pakistan, Jamal and a fellow refugee, Enayatullah Jumadin,
are the subjects of Michael Winterbottom’s compelling and all
too relevant most recent feature. The film follows them as
they set out to travel overland to London, passing through
Iran, Turkey, Italy and France – an arduous and life
threatening journey which offers constant reminders of the
desperation that lies behind it.
 JIYAN
Director: Jano Rosebiani
Cast: Kurdo Galali, Pisheng
Berzinci, Çoman Hawrami
Kurdistan 2002 / 94m / Kurdish with
English subtitles
Five years after the infamous chemical and biological
bombing of Halabja, Diyari, a Kurdish/American Samaritan,
returns to his homeland to build an orphanage in what is left
of Halabja. During the course of his stay, he meets a
colourful bunch of townfolk, many of whom remain physically
and/or psychologically marked with the effects of the chemical
agents. Among them is Jiyan, a ten year old orphan. A strong
bond between the two ensues and later he names the orphanage
after her.
 LONG LIVE THE BRIDE… AND THE LIBERATION
OF KURDISTAN
Director: Hiner Saleem
Cast: Georges Corraface, Marina
Kobakhidze, Tuncel Kurtiz
France 1997 / 96m / French and
Kurdish with English subtitles
Set inside the 100,000-population Kurdish community in
Paris. Cheto seeks a wife via videotapes while still seeing
his French girlfriend, immigration office worker Christine.
Cheto places an order for a beautiful girl, but he's
disappointed when her sister, country girl Mina, arrives at
the airport as a substitute. Family pressure forces him to
marry her. Unhappy with the way she's treated by Cheto, Mina
acquires some progressive ideas from Leila and other local
feminists, leading to confrontations with Cheto.
 MAROONED IN IRAQ
Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Cast: Allah-morad Rashtian,
Faegh Mohammadi, Iran Ghobadi
Iran 2002 / 110m / Kurdish
with English subtitles
The latest film from the director of A TIME FOR DRUNKEN
HORSES. An aging Kurdish singer, Mirza, persuades his two
grown musician sons to accompany him on a mission into Iraq to
locate his ex-wife, who, rumour has it, needs him. The journey
takes them through a lawless land of bombs and bandits where
the only policemen they encounter are handcuffed and in
underwear. The film portrays the Kurds living on the border of
Iran and Iraq not only as victims, but also as people who love
music, life and children, and have a wicked sense of humour
that enables them to survive persecution. Winner of the Best
Film award at the Chicago Film Festival, although director
Bahman Ghobadi turned down the award after the US authorities
refused him an entry visa.
 MEM AND ZIN
Director: Umit Elci
Cast: Meltem Doganay, Halil Ergun,
Musa Anter, Fusun Demirel
Turkey 1991 / 90m / Turkish with
English subtitles
During Kurdish New Year, Newroz, two brothers and two
sisters go to the celebrations. Mem and Zin fall in love and
exchange rings without ever knowing whether they will meet
again. This story of two tragically separated lovers is also
an allegory for the tragic fate of the Kurds, separated and
denied.
 A SILENT TRAVELLER
Director: Ibrahim Selman
Cast: Abdulkadir Yousif, Walid
Hadji, Halima Sadik, Umet Ali. Bangin Abdulkadir, Said
Ali
Netherlands / 92mins / 1994 / Kurdish with English
subtitles
Conceived in Kurdistan, written in Holland and filmed in
Greece, A SILENT TRAVELLER tells the story of life in a
Kurdish village in South Kurdistan (Iraq), where the endless
war between official forces and those fighting for a free
Kurdistan leads to divided loyalties, killing and grief, even
within families.
 SIYABEND AND XACE
Director: Sahin Gok
Cast: Tarik Akan, Mine Cayiroglu,
Yaman Okay, Yilmaz Erdogan
Turkey 1993 / 120m / Turkish
with English subtitles
This film tells the love story of Xace and Siyabend.
Siyabend is young and rebellious, an orphan brought up by his
aunt. He leaves home and wanders around Kurdistan until he
comes across Xace. Watch out for Yilmaz Erdogan in his first
film role as Xace’s brother.
 A SONG FOR BEKO
Director: Nizamettin Aric
Cast: Nizamettin Aric, Bezara
Arsen, Lusika Hesen
Germany 1992 / 110m / Kurdish with
English Subtitles
Nizamettin Aric made his directorial debut and also starred
in the film, one of the first in Kurdish. Beko begins his long
pilgrimage, in search of his brother, in Kurdish areas of
Turkey, where he escapes arrest. Fleeing into Syria, this
modern-day Odysseus then makes his way into the serenely
beautiful highlands of the Kurdish areas of Iraq. Here, in a
nomadic community caring for refugee children, Beko finds
himself and a homeland.
 TIREJ
Director: Halil Uysal
Editor: Ozgur Reyzan
Cast :
Mehmet Emin, Harun Ahmed
Produced by: Martyr Sefkan Culture
& Art School, Cinema Dept.
Kurdistan 2002 / 50m /
Kurdish with English subtitles
A film written, directed and acted by real life guerrillas
and based on a true story, this is perhaps the first feature
made entirely by guerrillas. It tells the story of a clash
with the Turkish army. After fierce fighting, two guerrillas
survive and are encircled by the Turkish army. The war is seen
from the perspective of the guerrillas. Will they survive?
Will other guerrillas come to their rescue? What are their
thoughts when they are fighting, and what will go into the
diary of one of the guerrillas?
 THE WIND WILL CARRY
US
Director: Abas Kiarostami
Cast: Behzad Dourani and the
inhabitants of Siah Dareh village
Iran 1999 / 118m /
Kurdish and Farsi with English subtitles
A man from Tehran named Behzad drives with a camera crew to
a remote Kurdish village clinging to the sides of two
mountains. There, they secretly wait for an ailing
100-year-old woman named Mrs. Malek to die, apparently
planning to film or tape the exotic traditional funeral
ceremony they expect to take place afterward, during which
some women mourners scratch and scar their faces. Behzad
spends most of the movie biding his time in the village,
circulating a false story, involving buried treasure, about
the reason for his presence and chatting with a few locals –
mainly a little boy named Farzad (Farzad Sohrabi), the old
woman's grandson, who serves as his (and our) main source of
information about the village.
 WINTERFLOWER
Director: Kadir Sözen
Cast: Menderes Samanc¦lar, Meral
Yüzgüleç, Cengiz Sezici
Germany 1996 / 107m / Turkish and
German with English subtitles
Mehmut Umut, a Turkish immigrant whose residence permit has
expired, is woken early one morning by the police and led
away. He is deported from Germany the same day and sent back
to Turkey. His wife and little son are left behind. Mehmet
survives in Istanbul with temporary jobs as a warehouseman and
waiter. He applies for an entry visa but when the application
is rejected for no reason, he decides to go beyond the law and
embarks on a dangerous journey.
 YELLOW DAYS
Director: Ravin Asaf
Cast: Sandra Steffl, Hogar Tanya,
Hama Ali Chan, Nur Surer
Germany 2002 / 85m / Kurdish with
English subtitles
Thirteen year old "Devil" Pascha and his gang are always
creating chaos in their village. No one escapes his cheeky
pranks, be they the Mullah of the village, his mother or his
sister. One day a German soprano singer visits the village to
write her doctoral thesis. All the men of the village,
including the feudal lord Ali Aga and the Mullah dream of
marrying this golden haired angel. This gives "Devil" Pascha
an opportunity to create even more mischief.
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