Hoog in de bergen, vlakbij de grens met Irak, proberen vijf broers en zussen te overleven. Hun moeder is in het kraambed overleden en als hun vader tijdens een smokkelexpeditie op een mijn loopt, staan ze er helemaal alleen voor. Ayoub, nog niet eens een puber, dient voortaan voor het gezin en zijn lichamelijk gehandicapte broertje te zorgen. Ayoub gaat mee op gevaarlijke smokkelexpedities om extra geld te verdienen, maar er is nauwelijks genoeg om alle monden te voeden.
Een dichter in Iran komt vrij na 30 jaar gevangenis en gaat op zoek naar zijn vrouw, die denkt dat hij al tientallen jaren dood is. Gebaseerd op een waargebeurd verhaal.
Elaha, 22, believes she must restore her supposed innocence before she weds. A surgeon could reconstruct her hymen but she cannot afford such an operation. She asks herself: why does she have to be a virgin anyway, and for whom?
A look back over nine years of the Syrian Civil War, an inextricable conflict, like a black box, due to the competing interests of the many factions in presence and those of the foreign powers.
A priceless tablet of Gilgamesh, the oldest and most important work of literature is stolen from a museum. A security guard vows to do whatever it takes to get it back from a group of smugglers. Along the way, he faces his own inner demons.
Fatma and her mother are Kurdish refugees living in Italy. One day at the hospital, Fatma learns her mother has breast cancer.
Hundreds of Western volunteers have joined Kurdish armies in Syria and Iraq in their efforts to fight the Islamic State. What drives some Canadians to put their lives on the line?
KÖY (Turkish for village) is about the longing for home, for belonging and the freedom of the self. Three women from three generations are united by their Kurdish roots.
Aslı Erdoğan, world-renowned author and activist, has fallen into silence after she fled to Germany. Incomplete Sentences is a feature documentary on her literature and life, leading to exile in Frankfurt, after the Turkish regime’s oppression results in her unlawful imprisonment. Now, she struggles in exile while everybody is waiting for her to write again. Right after getting out of prison Aslı starts telling her story to the director, wandering in the streets of Istanbul she recites parts from her books and explains the stories behind. When Aslı goes to Germany to receive the Erich Maria Remarque Award she cannot return; thus her exile, which she likens to a semi-open prison, begins. As her health deteriorates and keeps her from writing, the tragedy in her books becomes her own reality.
De Koerdische Iraakse dichter en acteur Zeravan Khalil reist met zijn hond door een Alpenkloof nadat hij is gevlucht voor de IS-oorlog en genocide. Terwijl hij zich de gruwel herinnert, schrijft hij een gedicht met de titel “Je maakt me gek” in het Kurmanji Koerdisch. In zijn thuisland is het de Jezidische Koerden verboden om in zijn beroep te werken. Dan eet hij zijn appel en dwaalt met meer hoop door het midden van Europa.
In the winter of 1988, in the depths of the Iraq/Iran war, the border town of Halabja was attacked by chemical weapons with all its people and their different stories.
The story of a Kurdish newspaper whose journalists are under the constant threat of being abducted and killed by the state security forces.
An underdog basketball team under the helm of an idealist school teacher from hard scrabble Diyarbakir in Southeastern Turkey goes beyond winning games in their mission to rise above prejudice, poverty and political turmoil created by the decades long conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish rebels who are fighting for local autonomy and cultural rights.
Three women, three wars, one dream. Lanja is a journalist in Iraq fearlessly fighting against honor violence. Maia in Abkhazia battles archaic customs like 'bride kidnapping'. Nelly runs a women's shelter in the slums of Monrovia, Liberia. A universal story of women's courage and survival in the aftermath of war.
In the 1990s, some newspapers were not allowed to enter the Diyarbakir region, under a state of emergency at that time, although they were legal. Children like Bawer and Hebûn, who were part of the distribution group, would secretly collect these newspapers from outside the city at a previously agreed location and take them to the planned meeting place in the city. There, the children changed their clothes and went out to distribute them, under the guise of other work. But they were constantly followed by those who saw the newspaper as dangerous and wanted to prevent its dissemination. Çerx is a testament to the conditions under which these newspapers were distributed to readers and the difficulties encountered.
“Binxet – Under the border” is a journey between life and death, dignity and pain, struggle and freedom. It takes place along the 911 km of the turkish-Syrian border. On the one hand the ISIS, in the other Erdogan’s Turkey. In the middle the borders and one hope. This hope is called Rojava, only one point on the chart of a troubled region, a region of resistance and an example of grassroots democracy that speaks about gender equality, self-determination of peoples and peaceful coexistence.
Sivan Encü, a young Kurdish man, provided for his family by "smuggling" through the Turkish-Iraqi border. When he was murdered in the 2011 Robozik (Roboski) Massacre, the responsibility of family's welfare was taken over by his younger brother Sinan, who lost his life in an unfortunate accident. This is the story of their grief-stricken mother Heyam and her resilience. Alongside Heyam's struggle, the film brings the voices of Robozik elders and notables to the forefront, who have experienced first-hand the social, political and economic dimensions of smuggling, which has been the backbone of survival for the locals for many generations.
Kawa Nemir is like a walking dictionary of the Kurdish language. He flees Turkey and takes refuge at Anne Frank's former house in Amsterdam. Will he be able to finish the translation of Ulysses and publish it?
A Kurdish woman as a suspect of terrorism: the exciting political thriller deeply depicts the racist surveillance system in Turkey. The young Kurdish woman Arjin is under surveillance by the Turkish intelligence service. Her offense: She housed another Kurdish woman for one night, who then disappeared without a trace. Every step of Arjin and her friend Sidar is monitored from now on. When Ramo, a secret service worker of Kurdish origin, claims to have found evidence that Arjin and Sidar are involved in the planning of a suicide bombing in Istanbul, the ugly face of the Turkish government is uncovered.
This Rain Will Never Stop takes the audience on a powerful, visually arresting journey through humanity’s endless cycle of war and peace. The film follows 20-year-old Andriy Suleyman as he tries to secure a sustainable future while navigating the human toll of armed conflict. From the Syrian civil war to strife in Ukraine, Andriy’s existence is framed by the seemingly eternal flow of life and death.