March 16, 2025

This year, the Pusan International Film Festival is hosting its first-ever Kurdish Film Programmewith a powerful line-up of films by Kurdish directors and I was asked to write an introductionabout Kurdish cinema for the Programme. Considering the fact that the Kurds have no nation-stateand, as a result, have no unified national cinema – having neither the infrastructure nor the relevantinstitutions needed to sustain a film industry – in many ways it feels like there is actually not verymuch to mention about the “history” of Kurdish cinema. It’s also very hard to know where or evenhow to start such a history. The difficulties of Kurdish cinema are completely related to thepolitical, economic, social and cultural conditions of the Kurds and it would, in turn, be whollymisleading to try to fit the more recent wave of Kurdish film and filmmakers into a classicdefinition or understanding of national cinema because of these unique conditions. So I think ashort introduction answering two basic questions – Who are the Kurds? and Where is Kurdistan? –will make it easier to understand the complex issues surrounding this particular cinema, a cinemathat includes so many Kurdish filmmakers passionately making films and winning prestigiousawards around the world at international festivals like Pusan. To read more Download the Article

Despite early developments in the 1920s, what might be argued as Kurdish cinema isa relatively new phenomenon. The aim of this dissertation is to discuss thedevelopment, focus and limitations of this phenomenon from its beginnings in 1927up to the present day. The first section will examine the emergence of what I will argue could representKurdish film from the political and social milieu of the Middle East, and theambitions and motivations of filmmakers emerging from this arena. Through a briefexamination of some of the most significant and influential Kurdish films (seeAppendix I for a more complete list of Kurdish titles), this will necessarily also revealthe pressures, limitations and problems that confronted the filmmakers as voices of amarginalized, oppressed and largely outlawed culture. Following on from this, a select group of influential Kurdish directors will beintroduced through brief biographies, and some of their most famous films presentedfor analysis and critique, examining the narrative focus and intent of the film, themesthat are of specific importance to the Kurdish people, and the methods they used toovercome specific limitations placed on them by outside agencies, such asgovernmental pressures. The third section will identify and discuss in detail key areas of narrative focus thatcan be observed in the vast majority of recognised Kurdish films, supported byinterviews conducted by the author at the 6th London Kurdish Film Festival (seeAppendix II) and other sources, with the intention of discussing the essential natureand attributes of ‘Kurdish’ film, and this will be the focus of the dissertation’sconclusion. To read more Download the Article

By Mustafa GündoğduWhile existence in the diaspora has not had purely positive outcomes for the Kurds, it ispossible to argue that they have minimised potential negativities, such as alienation,and that they have developed a harmonious space. One example is the Kurdishcommunity in London and the London Kurdish Film Festival (LKFF, www.lkff.co.uk) inparticular. It is a diasporic film festival that has beneficially impacted upon thedevelopment of Kurdish cinema. Kurds live in various parts of the UK, with the biggestconcentration in London. Although life in the diaspora here has similarities with otherprominent European cities, there are also some differences; the British-basedcommunity is internally diverse as well. For instance, the first Kurdish settlement inEngland was initiated in 1950 by individuals from Southern Kurdistan who came tostudy here and made substantial intellectual contributions in the following years. Mostof the politicians, ministers and intellectuals who are in prominent positions inSouthern Kurdistan (Kurdistan Iraq) today have spent time in the UK as part of thiscommunity. To read more Download the Article