XWEBÛN - WOMEN RESISTANCE IN NORTHERN KURDISTAN
Turkey is fighting a war. Not just in Syria – but inside its own boarders. It did not start with the “cleansing” of society after the coup 2016. For dozens of years there is a war in the Turkish society against the Kurds. Now they are allies of the US in Syria but what about the Kurdish people in Turkey? The civil war raging there has put an immense amount of pressure on the Kurdish civil society. Under this repression a democratic movement has formed.
The civil war is targeting specifically women. The reason for the extra amount of violence which is aimed at women is that the Kurdish women structures are resilient and strong. Their self conciseness and courage is a double thorn in the flesh of the Turkish patriarchal state. In the ongoing fights since the election in 2015 mainly women are targeted. From the desecration of bodies of female guerillas to sexist writings from state police in searched houses – everything is possible.
In May and June 2016 we were filming in and around the unofficial Kurdish capital Amed/Diyarbakir in Northern Kurdistan/Turkey. We were a women only team and only working with women fixers and translators. From the 30 hours material we created a lively portrait of resisting women. From Figen, headwoman of the women academy, who was taken into custody just recently, to the parents of Rozerin, who are burying their 17 year old daughter, to official HDP congress women, to three idealistic students working with traumatized children, the documentary “Xwebûn” is tracing the tracks the women resistance has left in society. The war, the crimes of the state are pervasive. Neutral in the listing of the human rights advocates, who are still mourning their killed colleague and vivid and frightening in the pictures und stories of the journalist Asya who nearly got killed reporting from the basements of Cizre. But still stronger than theses signs of cruelty and horror is the strength of the women withstanding and fighting.
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We are working as a collective, there are no fixed titels for each of usDirector
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Sarah, Antonia, Nilgün, Eylem, Lisa, CoraFrauen Film Kollektiv
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Project Title (Original Language):XWEBÛN
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Project Type:Documentary
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Runtime:1 hour
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Completion Date:March 1, 2018
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Production Budget:10,000 EUR
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Country of Origin:Germany
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Country of Filming:Turkey
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Language:English, Kurdish, Turkish
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Shooting Format:Digital, D5
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Non so far