A crowdfunding is underway to rebuild the Amude Cinema in Rojava. The old cinema was destroyed in a fire in 1960. The project is promoted by the Rojava Film Commune, a collective of filmmakers who have been working since 2015 to promote the visual arts in the autonomous region of Rojava/North-East Syria. In Italy, the campaign for the reconstruction of cinema is promoted by Ya Basta Bologna in collaboration with Un Ponte per, ARCI and UIKI Onlus.

The city of Amude has a population of just over 56,000 inhabitants, mostly Kurds, a large Arab minority and a significant presence of Assyrian citizens. The Amude cinema was the only one in the region, destroyed in a terrible fire in 1960.

The city of Amude and the tragic history of the old cinema

The cinema fire in Amude is a tragedy deeply rooted in the memory of Kurdish society. It was 13 November 1960, when hundreds of students were led to the only cinema in the city of Amude, the Şehrazad, for the screening of the Egyptian film “The Midnight Ghost”. The Ba’athist regime had ordered a “week of solidarity” with the struggle for Algeria’s independence from France and collected donations for the “Algerian brothers”.

Therefore, in Amude, all students had to attend the screening of the film, paying the relevant entrance fee. The film had already been screened several times without concerns about overcrowding. The cinema had a maximum capacity of 200 seats, but that day well over 400 children sat in the auditorium. The authorities had been warned of the dangers due to the cinema’s poor safety, but they decided to continue. During that screening, the room was invaded by a fire whose flames quickly spread up to the wooden truss of the ceiling, covered in straw and mud. In the escape through narrow doors inadequate for evacuation, 282 children between the ages of eight and fourteen died.

The new Amude cinema

Reconstructing the cinema Amude means contributing to the construction of a collective memory of the peoples and cultures living in the city and more generally in Northern and Eastern Syria, as well as keeping alive the memory of the many children whose lives were interrupted on 13 November 1960.

The new cinema will be designed and conceived as a safe, welcoming and multipurpose place of art, culture and aggregation.

Thanks to the experience and not only professional ties that many of us have intertwined for years with the Kurdish community and with the Rojava Film Commune, expressed in 2022 through a traveling film festival of which three stages took place in the city of Mantua, last year, a project was born for the reconstruction of the historic cinema Amude, supported by the “New Amude Cinema” Committee.

Guided by the principles of environmental sustainability, the volunteer architects involved in drafting the project will take care of the concept and follow the construction of the structure, guaranteeing safety, comfort and full accessibility for people with disabilities.

Capacity, flooring, energy-saving lighting, and a multiporpuse stage will be designed in detail for a space capable of hosting presentations, conferences and theatrical activities.

Not only events, but also a daily workshop and artistic residency activity, with rehearsal rooms and equipment, open to girls and adults.

The attacks of the occupying Turkish state against Rojava seem to find no end. Director Mensûr Kerîmîyan from Rojhilat was killed in an attack that took place on December 23. Kerîmîyan’s fighting friends insist on continuing their cinema work in Rojava, carrying forward his intentions.

We talked about the martyr Mensûr Kerîmîyan, the attacks of the invading Turkish state and the importance of art with Rojava Film Commune co-chairman Numan Yiğit, who stated that they made art under warplanes. In his evaluations to ETHA, he noted that albeit not a very long one, the history of Kurdish cinema is expressive. Yiğit stated that they based their cinematic work on the paradigm of Democratic Modernity.

Drawing attention to the attacks against Rojava by the Turkish state, Yiğit pointed out the multiple crises currently arising in Turkey. Reminding that people begin to question the system and the government in moments such as the deepening economic crisis, Yiğit said that the Turkish state launched an attack under the pretence of “fighting terrorism” to prevent this. It did not need a special reason to attack Rojava, though its recent defeat against the guerrilla certainly wounded its ego. Yiğit said that by targeting the institutions that serve the public in Rojava, such as infrastructure providing oil and water, “it aims to create chaos” among the people, pushing them to evacuate.

‘HE EXPERIENCED THE PROBLEMS THAT ALL KURDS EXPERIENCE’
Noting that civilians were targeted, Yiğit talked about the murdered director Mensûr Kerîmîyan. “Nine of our friends were martyred in the attacks that took place between December 24—29, all of them civilians. Some of them were employed at hospitals of printing houses. One of our martyred friends was Mensûr Kerîmîyan, known to everyone as Pîro in the cinema circle. The nickname comes from the concept of Pîrlik. His character, humane and conscientious personality prompted us to assign him this adjective. He came from Rojhilat, East Kurdistan originally. He experienced the same problems that all Kurds in the four parts of Kurdistan experience, starting from the identity problem.”

‘ROJAVA IS THE PLACE WHERE KURDS LIVE THEIR IDENTITIES FREELY’
Mensûr, Yiğit recalls, was able to express himself freely in Rojava, felt both the desire and responsibility to develop free cinema in as many areas as possible. They met Mensûr in 2017 on the set of the movie Dema Dirîreşkan (Blackberry Season). Mensûr took part in the work on Şengal, joined the Kobanê film crew, and worked on the TV series Evîna Kurd.

Emphasizing that film production in Rojava continues under the attacks of the occupation, Yiğit said that cultural and artistic works are also targeted. The murder of Mensûr, he noted, must have been the result of a special operation.

‘THE DEATH OF A PERSON CREATES A STATE OF EMPHASIS IN THE SOCIETY’
When asked about the racist posts being made by “academics” about those who were martyred in the attacks against Rojava, Numan Yiğit said, “What kind of a situation the death of an artist or a human being can ignite in society. It caused great moral and social decay. It reflects.” he said.

Underlining that an artist must have his problems and conflicts with the system, otherwise he cannot make art, he stressed that the martyred Mensûr Kerîmîyan insisted on being the artist of the people.

‘THE INDICATOR OF INSISTANCE ON BEING AN ARTIST OF THE PEOPLE’
Kurdish cinema will continue, in the same manner the Kurdish people continue their resistance against the massacres. “Heval Pîro’s stance is important in this respect. This is a standpoint, that is, it becomes the standpoint of filmmakers who pay the price. Be it Xelîl Doğan’s or Heval Pîro’s. His stance is important in that it shows the insistence on being an artist of his own people. His studies of cinema continue beyond his death. Just as the Kurdish people found a way to express themselves despite the massacres, exploitation and all kinds of attacks for more 30 to 40 years, this insistence, this resistance, this struggle will continue.

Saying that they see cinema as “the handling of reality together with aesthetic art”, Yiğit said, “We express ourselves as the filmmakers of Democratic Modernity. We organize a cinema that respects the paradigm of democracy, ecology and women’s liberation. In particular, we express cinema as the most powerful struggle for the people to express their own language and culture visually. In this sense, our insistence will continue. Just as the struggle has been going on for many years despite all the costs, these works, the defense, appropriation and struggle in cinema will continue.”

‘CINEMA WAS USED AS A TOOL OF MANIPULATION BY THE POWERS’ Underlining that they will continue Kerîmîyan’s struggle, Numan Yiğit said, “We believe that Heval Pîro’s stance will draw a line through the next generation of filmmakers. All revolutions have turned to art to express themselves. Cinema has been dominant in the world for about 130 years. It is an important field of art that has attracted the attention of revolutionaries and governments since its inception. It emerged as the 7th field of art that has an impact on society. It has also been used by the governments as a means of manipulating reality. The Turkish state, for example, has done this a lot. In TV series and movies, the strong state and the strong and perfect individual were exemplified. Just like the identity of Nazi Germany, it continues to create this perception of the strong individual, strong army, perfect human, superior human, in its own cinema and movies “

‘WE WANT TO RESOLVE BLINDNESS WITH CINEMA’
Pointing out that Kurdish cinema is one of the sustainers of the revolutionary cinema tradition, Yiğit quoted the Soviet poet and playwright Mayakovsky, saying “capitalism has blinded the eyes of reality or humans in the world”, stating that they are working to eliminate blindness with cinema.

In spite of the history of Kurdish cinema not being very long, they are very insistent on working. “What is the role of cinema? Cinema tries to show reality to the public visually. Kurdish self-expression in cinema is not rooted in a very long process. It expressed itself orally first, later in writing. Since the 90’s, under the influence of fragmentation, there have been attempts to realize self-expression in the field of cinema, although not at the rate we want. The RFC was established on July 14, 2015, after the revolution. It was born out of a tradition of resistance, becoming the paradigm of the filmmakers of Democratic Modernity — democratic, ecological and with a focus on women’s liberation. Because every filmmaker has an ideological stance, an understanding of the world. Even though he is an individual, he has an ideology nonetheless. As the RFC, we took this paradigm as a basis. We tried to handle our products from this approach.”

‘WE WANT TO SPREAD CINEMA TO EVERY AREA OF SOCIETY’
The RFC produces documentaries, short films and artistic works. Yiğit says “Heval Pîro was martyred. Our duty and responsibility is to organize ourselves and come forward even stronger. To spread cinema to all areas of society. The attack on him was an attack on us. It was a trigger. We must improve our self-expression and work toward a strong organization. What is our main goal as filmmakers in particular and as artists in general? We consider art as expressing reality aesthetically. We deal with the system of Democratic Modernity in an aesthetic way. We believe that the Democratic Modernity system being built in Rojava will be a libertarian order that will allow people to live well all over the world, especially in the Middle East, if the conditions are met. We believe that it will result in a beautiful world, as we dream of it. We’re trying to be a part of it.”

‘WE ARE THE CONTINUATION OF REVOLUTIONARY CINEMA’
Numan Yiğit conveyed the importance of cinema as follows: “Soviet cinema was built on the criticism of capitalist, Hollywood cinema. Battleship Potemkin (1925), for example, had a tremendous impact on filmmakers when it was made. Soviet director and theorist Dziga Vertov even published a manifesto. The way capitalist cinematography manipulated reality had become apparent; the cinema of the people was presented against the cinema of the mansions and the rich. It had an impact on film for many years to follow. The French New Wave, Italian neo-realism, and the third world filmmakers in Latin America formed a line, we express ourselves in this identity as a continuation of this period. Our aim is to be the expression of the existing libertarian life, of an order that will be able to express itself more strongly in the future, that will have a strong impact on society. We want to create its visual language. Of course we have artistic and aesthetic concerns. We try to maintain our stance by expressing it as strongly as possible.”

In Rojava, the building of a democratic confederal system and the efforts to defend the country are predominant. On the one hand, the country is defended with great sacrifices, on the other hand, the effort to rebuild the field of culture and art continues. The academies, schools, and cultural centres opened with the revolution are multiplying. Young people are educated through institutions created by the revolution to raise its own artists.

The city of Dêrik has a special place in the work of culture. Dêrik, which has recently hosted cultural and artistic studies, especially in the field of cinema and film (especially thanks to the work of the Rojava Film Commune), has shown great interest in visual studies with its people and youth. The city of Dêrîk has recently been the set for Sevînaz Evdikê’s ‘Berbû’ movie, and is now providing the set for the Rojava Film Commune’s TV series.

Dêrik is a natural plateau, with the Tigris river, lakes and wheat fields on one side, and churches, mosques, warm people and nature on the other.

Dicle Culture and Art Center is an important venue in Dêrik. Culture and art workers, who made great contributions to the revolution with the Koma Cûdî music group and the Koma Ava Mezin theater group before the revolution, also carried out many works after the revolution.

The latest thing organised is an art workshop that opened in the cultural center with the aim of creating a basis for cinema and theater work. The workshop indeed aims to create qualified actors, screenwriters and cinematographers within the scope of TEV-ÇAND.

Script, camera and acting lessons were given at the workshop, which attracted great interest from the first day. Young people both learn and practice their art lessons.

The lectures given by the Rojava Film Commune are held by the Koma Ava Mezin theater group.

A little note: The movie Berbû, starring the people of Dêrîk, will have its premiere at the Dicle Cultural Center on 31 August 2022.

The Rojava Film Commune did not fail to play the role of the mirror of the resistance living in Sur [in Amed], Şengal [Sinjar] and Kobanê, in addition to its efforts to become the language of the revolution and it accomplished the difficult task in the short time of 7 years.

The Rojava Film Commune was established in Dirbesiyê in 2015. In order to disseminate the cinema culture, it first started with the work of an academy. The Rojava Film Commune, opened the Martyr Yekta Herekol Academy, to train people in cinema.

The Martyr Yekta Herekol Academy trained many filmmakers and was eventually closed due to Turkish state attacks. The Rojava Film Commune then began to open weekly or monthly training sessions on different topics according to the needs and requests. Martyr Yekta Herekol Academy, which was suspended after the attacks, was then reopened.

The Rojava Film Commune produced 11 films in the first year of the Martyr Yekta Herekol Academy and 7 films in the next year. They also produced the films ‘Bajarên Wêranbûyi’ and ‘Ji Bo Azadiye’. The post production of the movie about the Kobanê resistance is currently underway.

The Rojava Film Commune also started to work on a couple of series in 2019.

Three Communes

The Afrin Film Commune was established with the first graduates of Martyr Yekta Herekol Academy, but after the Turkish occupation of the region of Afrin, the Commune was moved to Shehba.

The Kobanê Film Commune was established in 2018.

A dubbing studio was opened in Serêkaniyê, but due to the Turkish invasion that started in 2019, the team continues its work in Qamishlo.

The Rojava Film Commune is organized according to the project and its needs. Thus it determines the place, time and place according to both the number of members and the needs of the project. There are communes in Shehba, Kobanê and Cizîre Region, which are affiliated to Rojava Film Commune, which in turn is part of TEV-ÇAND, the cultural umbrella organisation in North and East Syria.

There are Script, Production and Diplomacy Committees in the Rojava Film Commune, but these committees can also change according to the needs of the project.

The Rojava Film Commune is affiliated to TEV-ÇAND in terms of budget, and sometimes delivers its projects to the public with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Arts.

Preparations in Raqqa and Tabqa

Because the Commune has not been established for a long time and the Kurdish people have a greater interest in cinema, most of the members of the Rojava Film Commune are Kurds, but other peoples are also involved in the various projects. Both Turkish and international filmmakers took part in the construction of the Rojava Film Commune.

The Rojava Film Commune, the founder of the Rojava Film Festival, which has been going on for 5 years, is making preparations to establish a film commune in Raqqa and Tabqa. The Rojava Film Commune members do not need to have studied cinema and are voluntary.

The Rojava Film Commune did not fail to play the role of the mirror of the resistance living in Sur, Şengal and Kobanê, in addition to its efforts to become the language of the revolution in its 7 years of life.

A production of 25 films

The Rojava Film Commune has produced 25 films so far, and has carried out all its work in Rojava, including post-production, except for three of these films.

Cinema cannot be detached from the revolution

Sêvînaz Evdikê, a director who studied cinema, and a member of the Rojava Film Commune, said: “I never thought of taking part in a film that did not reflect the revolution and was disconnected from it, nor did I have such a desire. The Rojava Film Commune was the best and most suitable space for me. I chose the cinema because I love it, but I could not take part in a film detached from the revolution. When both cinema and the revolution became a whole, my interest in cinema increased even more.”

Unfortunately the video below does not contain English language subtitles.