Film festival in Netherlands to promote Kurdish creativity, militancy, and courage

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Kurdish film festival organized by the Ru Paré Community in Amsterdam is set to screen 17 Kurdish movies from several countries in the Netherlands.

The festival will be held on May 24 to 26, 2019.

This year, Ru Paré is organizing the first edition of the Kurdish Movie Days Amsterdam: a three-day program that includes films, music, and food.

According to the organization, the goal of the festival is to show the richness of Kurdish cinema.

“The Kurdish language, identity, and cultural expressions have been suppressed for decades by various regimes in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria,” Ru Paré said on its events page on Facebook.

“Although many Kurdish artists and filmmakers have lived in exile and in prisons, this has certainly not prevented their cultural output,” the organization added.

It described the Kurdish film as being “of paramount importance” and a means through which Kurds pursue the recognition of their identity and freedom.

“Through their artistic expressions, [Kurdish artists and filmmakers] demonstrate their militancy against the suppression of the Kurdish language and identity,” Ru Paré said.

We want “to share the courage and militancy that are shown in these films with the rest of Amsterdam.”

Dutch-Kurdish filmmaker Beri Shalmashi, who selected the movies for the event, said the vast collection of Kurdish films is a first.

“Apart from a gem here and there that makes it to arthouse cinemas or larger festivals,” this is the “first time that we see so many Kurdish films in one program in the Netherlands,” she told Kurdistan 24.

Shalmashi said the three-day program was organized to give “a good picture of the Kurds” who are often only recognized in the news.

“All the films are really beautiful. You especially do not want to miss a film like ‘Zer,’ whose maker Kazim Öz is coming all the way from Istanbul to join us.”

There will be at least 17 films and short films, including movies such as “Radio Kobani” from Reber Dosky, “Resistance is Life of Apo” by W. Bezidi, and “Houses With Small Windows” by Bülent Öztürk.

The festival will also feature Kurdish music from Eléonore Fourniau, Azad Karahan, Arda Argosyan, and Nadia Visser.

Since 2000, several Kurdish film festivals have been held in across cities in Europe and around the world including Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Melbourne, and Paris.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany