Cinema and Identity: The Case for Kurdish Cinema

Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.

- Ingmar Bergman (1)

Cinema, often referred to as The Seventh Art, is one of the more recent arts in terms of emergence. That is in contrast to the large human history with the other forms of art. It has been a part of our world for some 130 years. The most progressive and leading nations in the world, the likes of France and America, have been an integral part of cinema’s invention, progression and evolution. However, each nation has contributed to cinema in a particular way. Several countries have their own distinct cinematic schools or cinematic universes which hold different values and methods in comparison to the other countries. Russia, Italy and Germany are good examples. A nation or a country can produce numerous films and still not be able to call itself “a country that has it’s own cinema”. Because for cinema to exist, it has to either become an independent industry or an independent school of cinema (like a school of thought). Only then can cinema be used as a tool to represent, display and spread a nation’s culture and identity.

The leading countries of the world, recognized the importance of cinema early on. They acknowledged the fact that cinema can be a powerful tool for a nation to represent and identify it’s culture and identity. Europe is regarded as the cradle of cinema. However, The United States of America established it’s place in the cinema medium firmly by creating a whole cinematic industry in Hollywood. We have witnessed numerous historical events which were initially influenced by cinema. The French students revolution of 1968 is widely known to have been influenced by the French cinema of that period.(3) Italy, Sweden, Russia, Japan, The United Kingdom, etc.. have all been involved in contributions to cinema for more than 100 years. The impacts of cinema on each of these countries are recognized in the cultural, political and economical aspects. Naturally, none of these were achieved overnight or without a clear plan and strategy to make cinema a great soft weapon of each of the aforementioned countries.

Thus far, we Kurds can not have a real claim to cinema. It is true that we do have films here and there, there have been several attempts at creating a distinct Kurdish cinema, but none have succeeded in doing so. The first Kurdish film to be made was (Zare). Directed in 1926-1927 by Hamo Bag Nazarian. The film can be summarized as such: Immediately prior to the Russian Revolution, a young shepherd Seydo and his girlfriend Zare struggle for their right to a happy love in a Yazidi Kurdish village in Russian Armenia.(2).

But just what can be regarded as a Kurdish film? This question is a rather puzzling and multidimensional one. We can not put a finger on one aspect of a film and use it as a defining factor to answer the question.

As we are, unlike other nations, still without a sovereign country to protect and identify our culture and identity inside it’s borders. Thus far, we merely have different attempts by different individuals with the aim to create and establish what can be called “Kurdish Cinema”.

These attempts at cinema to tell Kurdish tales and represent the Kurdish cause have all been partially impactful. Yilmaz Güney is a great example. He made many films, most of which were made in the Turkish language, by Turkish filmmaking tools and a mostly-Turkish cast and crew. Yet we can not label his films as Turkish for at their core his films have a Kurdish sense and discourse.

Of the main properties that can make a film ‘Kurdish’ are: A Kurdish discourse, a Kurdish narrative or an attempt at showcasing the Kurdish history and it’s identity. Apart from Güney, other directors (Bahman Ghobadi, Kazim Oz, Taha Karimi, Shewket Amin, Huner Selim) and many others have contributed to Kurdish cinema.

In Southern Kurdistan’s four provinces (Erbil, Suleymaniyeh, Duhok and Halabja), the number of cinema halls are very limited. In Kurdistan, as in everywhere else, cinema now is more of a ‘home display’ medium. Individuals tend to watch films on their private electrical gadgets such as computer, TVs and mobile phones. This is one of the contributing causes that makes cinema less attainable. For without cinema halls, a cinematic culture can not be built. Without a cinematic culture, cinematic awareness can not exist and without cinematic awareness cinema itself can not be created. Although, there are other factors that contribute to the absence of cinema in Kurdistan.

Another reason for Kurdish cinema’s lack of progression is the absence of cinematic academies and institutions in which filmmaking students in different aspects of filmmaking can learn. Although Kurdistan has college and university of arts, in which there is a cinema department, but these institutions have not succeeded at providing and developing cinematic movements. The art history of the different nations of the world can be regarded as a shared and universal history, this is evident that we Kurds can be beneficial of the vast and rich history of the other nations and use that to our advantage to establish our own cinema and use it as a tool to build a stronger nation. Another one of the helpful factors that can provide us with assistance in building and establishing our own cinema is the fact that we are an ever-present Mesopotamian nation and that our roots are planted deep in this whole region’s history and the history of civilization. In spite of all the historical and political events, invasions and being divided into several parts, we have managed to protect and distinguish our language and culture from the neighboring nations of the region, like Arabs, Turks and Persians. This long history of dispute and violent events has led to a vast world of interesting stories that can make for interesting cinematic ideas. Aside from this, the many uprisings, revolts and revolutions by the different political movements of the different historical periods of Kurdistan, have brought forth a universe of diverging stories.

Building cinema in this technological era seems more attainable and more achievable than ever. In order to start building a Kurdish cinema we need: social cinematic awareness, cultural and intellectual foundation for cinema, educating filmmakers, importing and creating an electronic infrastructure, building an economical infrastructure, a strategy to develop cinema by governmental institutions, building cinema halls, governmental support and facilitation to filmmakers. Individual and social awareness may automatically fall behind all these simple strategies. Because previous attempts have proved to us that like any other place in the world, there is a vast and lively audience, hungry and thirsty for more Kurdish productions.