As the kurdish people have always had a fractured geography, the kurdish language dialects have also been fractured, having an impact on kurdish identity and therefore unity of literature as well. The prince sharaf khan, sovereign of the kurdish principality of bitlis, also wrote his history of the kurdish nation, at the end of the xvith century, a brilliant medieval source on the history of the kurds, in persian. Kurds nonexistence 1950s1960s, uncertainty situation 1970s1980s, development and solution process 1990s, 2000s. Kurdish documentary cinema in turkey by suncem kocer. An overview of kurdistan of the 19th century hamit bozarslan 5. Spam or selfpromotional the list is spam or selfpromotional. After this film, kurdish cinema remained silent for several decades. Over the millennia, numerous ethnicities have migrated, settled or natively inhabited the area including turks, persians, arabs, kurds. Routledge handbook on the kurds 1st edition michael m. Jemal nebez held a warmly received speech under the title. Berlins kurdish film festival and the 9th seoul film festival. Kurdish affairs are among her special fields of interest. Kurdish movies often show social grievances, oppression, torture, human rights violations and life as a stranger. This paper examines the potentials and theoretical interpretations of minority filmmaking through the particular case of kurdish cinema produced in turkey.
Third, the communicative strategies used to nationalize kurdish cinema must be viewed both in the context of the historical forces of turkish nationalism and. With more than two dozen kurdishrelated papers over four days, and given the location, this is a conference you do not want to miss. By delving into kurdish documentary films as products of complex societal, political, and historical processes, the articles in the volume highlight the. The difficulties of kurdish cinema are completely related to the political, economic, social. Kurdish documentary cinema in turkey hardcover november 1, 2016.
The kurdish cinema has a high significance for the kurds, as it offers the opportunity to draw attention in an artistic way to their own situation. On the occasion of the inauguration of the kurdish communityhouse in berlin, germany in september 1997, the wellknown kurdologist dr. The panelists agreed that kurdish cinema was characterised by the search for a homeland, journeys across borders and the culture of memory. Pdf an introduction to kurdish cinema mustafa gundogdu. By delving into kurdish documentary films as products of complex societal, political, and historical processes, the articles in. Many have wanted to govern their land, which is rocky, but fertile in valleys.
Subsequent to and in line with efforts to unify kurdish cultural production in diaspora, kurdish intellectuals have endeavored to define and frame the substance of kurdish cinema as an orienting framework for the production and reception of films by and about kurds. The new film exploring the wars effect on iraqs kurds. Kurdish directors make national cinema in turkeys first. A number of historical, political and cultural circumstances have led to the emergence of. When all turkish cinema is analyzed, it can be percieved that kurds were always in turkish cinema.
The first film of what has become known as kurdish cinema, was zare, and was shot in 1926 in armenia and directed by hamo beknazarian. Alike, in turtles can fly 2004, the mysterious center of the story is agrin and her suicide. The contiguous kurdish regions of iran, iraq, turkey, and syria sit in the north central area of the middle east. Likewise all the books, implicitly or explicitly, constitute reflections on the category of national cinema and its claim upon the cinemas under discussion including sadrs book which touches upon the cinema of the kurds, one of irans many ethnic minorities, which belongs like palestinian cinema to a nation without a state. Third, the communicative strategies used to nationalize kurdish cinema must be viewed both in the context of the historical forces of turkish. With recent revolutions and ongoing civil wars that continue to change the landscape of the region, the kurds have found themselves playing an increasingly important role in the middle east. Martin van bruinessen is a frequent visitor to kurdistan and a wellknown specialist on kurdish affairs. They are becoming increasingly important within regional and international geopolitics, particularly since the 2003 invasion of iraq, the arab spring and the war in syria.
Yet he dismisses talk of a kurdish cinema as premature. The area of kurdistan lies in eastern turkey, armenia, syria, iran and iraq, with a population of between 25 and 30 million people. The most memorable date in recent kurdish political history is undoubtedly 15 february 1999 as this was the day when pkk leader abdullah ocalan was captured in kenya by turkish special forces personnel operating undercover. Kurdish culture is a group of distinctive cultural traits practiced by kurdish people. The drive for independent nationhood is a key part of kurdish history and identity. There are some interesting examples in the margins of mainstream film history. Kurdish history is deeply intertwined with the geography and the politics of the modern kurdish regions. The origin of the rivers euphrates and tigris are in the area of kurdistan, and there is oil in the soil of kurdistan. Middle eastern culture the state of kurdish cinema. Kurdish cinema was practically nonexistent in the past century save for a few films, among them the herd written by yilmaz guney and directed by zeki okten in 1979, and yilmaz guneys masterpiece, the road, directed from his prison cell by proxy serif goren in 1982. Christian ancient history and the mythology of the kurds, the cultural height and depth of the kurdish people in the shadow of the numerous expeditions by alien peoples through kurdistan, the astounding variety of religions in kurdistan, with special stress on syncretism as the most striking feature of the kurdish religious culture.
According to oxford film academic tim kennedy who has done research on palestinian, kurdish and armenian films, the most important marker of kurdish cinema is the preservation of memory. Inappropriate the list including its title or description facilitates illegal activity, or contains hate speech or ad hominem attacks on a fellow goodreads member or author. Excellent compendium of kurdish history, entirely based off of foreign and native accounts of kurdistan. In writing the modern history of the kurds david mcdowall used material primarily from british diplomatic and military archives. In the pages of the sharafnama are present the kurdish nation, already unified 400 years ago within a common culture, national ethos, a defined homeland and an integrated history stretching into antiquity. Filmmaking in iraqi kurdistan is far from straightforward and often prioritises nationalistic narratives. Iraqi kurdistan a semiautonomous region in the north of iraq, and the closest thing to a kurdish state. The circumstances surrounding ocalans arrest are rightly regarded by the kurds as an international conspiracy because. Imagine that cinema is now 120 years old and kurds have been making films for the past 20 years, so, we are 100 years behind. A brief history of a young kurdish cinema manifesto film. But there are also some nonkurdish movies dealing with the kurdish problem like journey to the sun, the wind will carry us or handan. Kaya a thesis submitted to the department of international relations of the london school of economics for the degree of doctor of philosophy, london, june 2012. In this quick skimming through 1 can limit myself to merely pointing out a few major landmards and mentioning facts likely to help in the understanding of the present situation of the kurds. Zare 1927 was the first film in kurdish history, made by the soviets in armenia, according to memeds words.
As a result of this relative rise the kurds have been a popular topic in the world cinema circles. Brushing over a depiction of 25 centuries of history in half an hour is obviously a tough task. The kurdish culture is a legacy from ancient peoples who shaped modern kurds and their society. These include the visibility of kurdish directors, like. The kurdish people have a long history dating back long before the current borders of the middle east were created.
The result is a marvellous book on the political history of the kurds and the diplomatic manoeuvring of the western powers present in the region. Using hayden whites formulations on narrative and history and gilles deleuzes theories on minority filmmaking and the timeimage, i argue that the conception of time in kurdish cinema exceeds the time of the narrative and carries an archival potential for the unrepresented history of kurdish life in turkey. Cinematic visibility, cultural resilience, and political agency article pdf available in international journal middle east studies 4603. Within the last few years, kurdish cinema has emerged as a unique discursive subject in turkey. Bahman ghobadi was born in 1968 at baneh, a small town in iranian kurdistan. In this they have something in common with the cinema, which is the art of movement.
Kurdish studies in europe vera eccariuskelly part ii early kurdish history 3. What you are trying to do is massive first digital kurdish liberary on internet thats amazing, you are trying to help the poor people thats why i. Kurdistan, kurdish nationalism and international society by zeynep n. Kurdistan is clearly an important area both in strategic and economic terms. The history of the kurdish people the comprehensive history of the kurdish people as members of the aryan religion and worshiper of the only god known as god hu the creator of human and everything in the univers.
The kurdish cinema was shaped by the fate of the kurds as people without a state. Its difficult to date the origin of kurdish literature. There are also exclaves of kurds in central anatolia and khorasan. I love reading books but because the prices i cant buy the books i wantto say thank you so much guys. Essayistic tendencies in contemporary kurdish filmmaking. Pdf kurdish cinema as a transnational discourse genre. Its also very hard to know where or even how to start such a history. I evaluate the dynamics of the emergence of a stateless kurdish cinema, which produces films in spite of. This multidisciplinary handbook provides a definitive overview of a range of themes within kurdish studies. Shewket amin korki is a new kurdish director who was born in zakho, iraqi kurdistan, in 1973. Incorrect book the list contains an incorrect book please specify the title of the book.
Recent years saw the rise of kurdish cinema, thanks to the films of kurdish directors living in turkey, iran, iraq and kurdish diaspora. When we have cinemas in every kurdish town, and when kurdish language and culture on film is no longer viewed as a. Jane connors is a lecturer in the law department of soas, london. If you are a presenter and would like your paper posted at kurdistan commentary so that others can read it, please send it along after the conference in. The kurds are thought to number from 25 million to 30 million, including communities in armenia, georgia, kazakhstan, lebanon, syria, and europe, but sources for this information differ widely because of differing criteria of ethnicity, religion, and language. But there are also some nonkurdish movies dealing with the kurdish problem like journey to. I evaluate the dynamics of the emergence of a state less kurdish cinema, which produces films in spite of. With an estimated population of over 30 million, the kurds are the largest stateless nation in the world. History of the kurds history of the kurds is tinged with violence. The kurdish language is a west iranian language related to persian and pashto. We can divide the kurdish issue in turkish cinema into three sections. A historical overview celal hayir abstract the study at hand relates to the history of turkish cinema from 1895 to 1990 with respect to the accompanying political events and their analysis.
1540 923 998 524 984 787 602 606 1475 934 1136 485 317 1563 343 1399 1046 210 728 1613 1484 368 1261 542 1695 202 689 777 1161 928 1361 1036 692 237 1154 852 544 129