Kurdish cinema and Kurdistan reality
Kurdish cinema and Kurdistan reality
All Kurdish films shot in recent years no doubt live on the trauma and war psychology we have undergone. Just like the media and literature, the cinema of a country is also a mirror of a society.
The Kurdish cinema is as a matter of fact like the Kurdish people who have dispersed all around the world. It is in pieces and each ring has some characteristic features. Ghobadi from Iranian cinema (Kiarostami’s student at the same time), Hiner Saleem from Southern Kurdistan, Kazým Öz from Northern Kurdistan, Hüseyin Karabey, Yeþim Ustaoðlu and many other valuable directors.
The criticism that a film is supposed to be shot in Kurdish so as to be considered as a Kurdish film should actually be addressed by people who conduct academic works on the subject. There are some Kurdish or Turkish directors who in good faith partially use the Kurdish language or themes in their films. It wouldn’t be unfair to film-makers in Northern Kurdistan to include these films in the Kurdish cinema.
Diaspora, a consequence of Kurdistan’s political multi-parties, is the fifth ring of the Kurdish cinema. The film ‘Kilamek ji bo Beko’ which was shot by Nizamettin Arýç in 1992 is as a matter of fact a serious production that diaspora offered to Kurdistan. Despite being one of the first Kurdish films, ‘Kilamek ji bo Beko’ unfortunately didn’t catch much attention from some sources and the people dealing with this work.
The excitement and expectation in Kurdish cinema is at the same time a production of Kurds’ dream of seeing themselves in their own culture and language.
Edward Said’s expression ‘the instrument to make itself visible’, which he used for Palestinian cinema, is also true for the Kurdish cinema. Although too late, Kurds started to develop their attitude to listen, watch and understand themselves with artistic acts in Kurdish. With this action, as well as ‘making themselves visible’, Kurds also wanted to see their living rituals, ballads, tragedies and silent screams on the screen. The films made soon after the discovery of cinema in France, particularly those made by Georges Méliès and harmonized with his own magic, wholly aimed at entertaining the people. For many long years, cinema made a name around the world as an instrument of entertainment. And the people, who perceived cinema in process of time and comprehended the effect of this magical power, started to direct their cameras to their imperfect sides. Americans used their camera to form a new world order, while Iranians directed their objective towards their traditional life, Palestinians and Kurds to freedom which they have longed for.
The theme addressed in territories dominated by political non-status, pressure and negligence will inevitably contain longing, boundary and division. This is a possible consequence of the nature-human interaction.
In respect to Kurdish cinema’s effort to express itself within its own identity, we could say that Northern Kurdistan has gone through hardest periods. Yýlmaz Güney faced political obstacles when he wanted to use the Kurdish language in his films after 1970’s where he used Kurdish themes and characters. On the grounds of same reasons, Kurdish language couldn’t be brought into the cinema in films shot between and after 1990’s and 2000’s. On the other hand, Kurdish themes, exotic Kurdish nature and the traditional living rituals of Kurds appeared as a pattern in Turkish films. In this respect, actors with humiliated Kurdish dialects actually appeared in the Turkish cinema for a long time. The Kurdish character in Mahsun Kýrmýzýgül’s films today is not any different from this approach. Even this example itself is an apparent sign that a film cannot utterly reflect a culture if not it isn’t shot in the language of that culture.
As a result, no matter in which part of Kurdistan, the political non-status and diaspora, the boundary reality and longing for freedom appear as the most general scene in Kurdish cinema. Even if a free society could be created with gained political achievements, the wired and bomb boundaries of Kurdistan seem to be subject of movies for a long time.
* This article by BÜLENT GÜNDÜZ was first published on Yeni Özgür Politika
The Kurdish cinema is as a matter of fact like the Kurdish people who have dispersed all around the world. It is in pieces and each ring has some characteristic features. Ghobadi from Iranian cinema (Kiarostami’s student at the same time), Hiner Saleem from Southern Kurdistan, Kazým Öz from Northern Kurdistan, Hüseyin Karabey, Yeþim Ustaoðlu and many other valuable directors.
The criticism that a film is supposed to be shot in Kurdish so as to be considered as a Kurdish film should actually be addressed by people who conduct academic works on the subject. There are some Kurdish or Turkish directors who in good faith partially use the Kurdish language or themes in their films. It wouldn’t be unfair to film-makers in Northern Kurdistan to include these films in the Kurdish cinema.
Diaspora, a consequence of Kurdistan’s political multi-parties, is the fifth ring of the Kurdish cinema. The film ‘Kilamek ji bo Beko’ which was shot by Nizamettin Arýç in 1992 is as a matter of fact a serious production that diaspora offered to Kurdistan. Despite being one of the first Kurdish films, ‘Kilamek ji bo Beko’ unfortunately didn’t catch much attention from some sources and the people dealing with this work.
The excitement and expectation in Kurdish cinema is at the same time a production of Kurds’ dream of seeing themselves in their own culture and language.
Edward Said’s expression ‘the instrument to make itself visible’, which he used for Palestinian cinema, is also true for the Kurdish cinema. Although too late, Kurds started to develop their attitude to listen, watch and understand themselves with artistic acts in Kurdish. With this action, as well as ‘making themselves visible’, Kurds also wanted to see their living rituals, ballads, tragedies and silent screams on the screen. The films made soon after the discovery of cinema in France, particularly those made by Georges Méliès and harmonized with his own magic, wholly aimed at entertaining the people. For many long years, cinema made a name around the world as an instrument of entertainment. And the people, who perceived cinema in process of time and comprehended the effect of this magical power, started to direct their cameras to their imperfect sides. Americans used their camera to form a new world order, while Iranians directed their objective towards their traditional life, Palestinians and Kurds to freedom which they have longed for.
The theme addressed in territories dominated by political non-status, pressure and negligence will inevitably contain longing, boundary and division. This is a possible consequence of the nature-human interaction.
In respect to Kurdish cinema’s effort to express itself within its own identity, we could say that Northern Kurdistan has gone through hardest periods. Yýlmaz Güney faced political obstacles when he wanted to use the Kurdish language in his films after 1970’s where he used Kurdish themes and characters. On the grounds of same reasons, Kurdish language couldn’t be brought into the cinema in films shot between and after 1990’s and 2000’s. On the other hand, Kurdish themes, exotic Kurdish nature and the traditional living rituals of Kurds appeared as a pattern in Turkish films. In this respect, actors with humiliated Kurdish dialects actually appeared in the Turkish cinema for a long time. The Kurdish character in Mahsun Kýrmýzýgül’s films today is not any different from this approach. Even this example itself is an apparent sign that a film cannot utterly reflect a culture if not it isn’t shot in the language of that culture.
As a result, no matter in which part of Kurdistan, the political non-status and diaspora, the boundary reality and longing for freedom appear as the most general scene in Kurdish cinema. Even if a free society could be created with gained political achievements, the wired and bomb boundaries of Kurdistan seem to be subject of movies for a long time.
* This article by BÜLENT GÜNDÜZ was first published on Yeni Özgür Politika
