Refugee Poetry

Refugee Poetry 2016

10.00

The Kurdish Iraqi poet and actor Zeravan Khalil travels with his dog through an Alpine gorge after fleeing from IS war and genocide. As he remembers the abomination, he writes a poem with the title “You drive me mad” in Kurmanji Kurdish. In his home country, Yazidic Kurds are forbidden to work in his profession. Then he eats his apple and wanders through Europe’s middle with more hope.

2016

The Volunteers

The Volunteers 2017

1

Filmmaker River Hagg travels to war-torn Syria, in hopes of documenting the war between the YPG and ISIS. He eventually finds himself in a volunteer unit, the only medics on the battlefield.

2017

The Silence

The Silence 2016

7.00

Fatma and her mother are Kurdish refugees living in Italy. One day at the hospital, Fatma learns her mother has breast cancer.

2016

Walnut Tree

Walnut Tree 2020

6.90

Qader, a bricklayer from Sardasht in Kurdistan Iran whose wife is pregnant with her 4th child, suddenly found himself amid a war crime perpetrated by the Saddam regime. On June 28th, 1987 Iraqi air fighters dropped mustard gas bombs on the city...

2020

Where is Gilgamesh?

Where is Gilgamesh? 2024

9.20

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.

2024

Monologue

Monologue 2023

1

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.

2023

Before Your Eyes

Before Your Eyes 2009

6.60

After their parents are murdered, two young Kurdish children are forced to live on the street

2009

Well

Well 2018

7.00

In the 1990s many people in Kurdistan were taken into custody and interrogated under torture; their killers disposed of the bodies by throwing them out of helicopters, or burying them in acid-filled wells. Thousands were murdered/disappeared by paramilitary forces—such as Jitem and Hizbul-Kontra—that were financed and supported by the state, though they have always stuck to the line: “We didn’t do it.” The documentary looks at the case of seven people, including four children, who were disappeared from the town of Kerboran [Dargeçit] in 1995, and tells the story of their families’ tireless search for their bones

2018

Beside Heroes

Beside Heroes 2016

1

Wali, an ex-sniper, leaves Canada to fight the Islamic state. He meets two Americans: Rebaz and Zyrian. One is a veteran of the war in Iraq. The other is a homosexual idealist. They meet the Kurds, a welcoming people. Together, they will confront the fanatical Islamic terrorists. Beside Heroes, an uncensored documentary that tells the tale of three volunteer fighters who realized that to change the world, you have to act.

2016

301

301 2008

1

2008

Tokyo Kurds

Tokyo Kurds 2021

10.00

In the 1990s, fearing persecution from the Turkish government, about 2,000 Kurdish refugees of Turkish nationality came to settle in a suburb of Tokyo. Here live Ohzan (18), Ramazan (19) and Memet (38). This documentary focuses on these three young Kurds in Japan.

2021

Wild is the Spring

Wild is the Spring 2021

7.00

Through a series of vignettes from the ancient and war-torn Levant, WILD IS THE SPRING captures moments in the lives of diverse ethnic communities who struggle to survive when life descends into chaos.

2021