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Cinema Shorts: Women in Kurdish Cinema This program includes short films made by and about woman, created by Kurdish filmmakers from the diaspora:
October 22, 2009 6:30PM
NYU Cantor Center
Totico – Khadija C. Baker (Syria/Canada, 2007, 2 mins)
“Totico”("crazy" in Kurdish) is a short animation by Canadian-based Kurdish visual artist Khadija C. Baker. Using melted chocolate and henna to hand-draw images onto glass, Baker creates a bewitching tale of two roosters.
Dengbej Women – Women’s Collective of Atölyemor/ Filmmor Women's cooperative (Turkey, 2006, 22 mins)
Almost completely excluded from written culture, Kurdish women have managed to pass on their histories and experiences for generations via oral culture storytelling and song, most notably through dengbej (a cappella songs which preserve Kurdish history and culture). This short documentary explores a community of Dengbej women singers who, in the face of familial and community alienation, have managed to create an artistic community of their own in Southeast Turkey.
The Seed – Müjde Arslan (Turkey, 2009, 13 mins)
The latest film by female director Müjde Arslan, The Seed is a gracefully wrought tale about an elderly Kurdish man who loses his wife. Poverty, loneliness, loss and survival are all examined under Arslan’s thoughtful lens.
Q&A after the film with the director.
Oven – Ashkan Ahmadi (Iran, 14 mins) – Co-produced by United Women of Kurdistan
As villagers flee fighting, a stoic elderly woman stays behind to slowly bake bread and defend her people. Oven offers a brilliant and unusual insight into the sacrifices made by women in wartime and the often painful issue of polygamy.
Border – Sattar Chamani Gol (Iran, 2008, 10 mins)
“Come on, Chief, there is no difference between Iran and Iraq, we are all relatives.” So a group of Kurdish men, trying to cross the Iraq-Iran border to bring an Iraqi Kurdish bride to her Iranian Kurdish husband’s home for their wedding and new life together, argue with a lone border guard. Tensions mount as the guard refuses to allow them passage, threatening both families’ honor and sense of freedom.
Müjde Arslan, director of The Seed, will lead a post-film discussion.
Filmmaker's Biography
Müjde Arslan
Mujde Arslan was born in 1981 in Mardin. She received her undergraduate degree from Dicle University's Biology Department. She got her master's degree from the Faculty of Communication - Marmara University, Department of Cinema. She has worked as a journalist in DIHA (Dicle News Agency), and “Yedinci Gündem” and "Gündem" newspapers. She also writes essays on culture and cinema published in various magazines and newspapers. She received various national and international awards with her short, "The Last Game. After her first short film, "The Last Game", she directed another short films "Nora" and "Tov" (The Seed) and her first documentary film "Kirasê Mirinê: Hewîtî" (A Fatal Dress: Polygamy). She is also the author of the book, "Rejisör Atıf Yılmaz", based on interviews made with the legendary Turkish film director late Atıf Yılmaz and “Kurdish Cinema”.
Filmography
• The Last Game, short film, 2006, 13’
• Nora, short film, 2007, 9’
• Tov/The Seed, short film, 2009, 14’
• Kirasê Mirinê: Hewîtî / A Fatal Dress: Polygamy, documentary, 2009, 45’
Awards (The Last Game / Son Oyun)
1 Marmara University Short Film Competition - Best Cinematograpy Mention Award
2 PAM Çevre Film Festivali – Encourage Award
3 Tohum Short Film Festival – Love and Friendshi Award
4 Mediterranean Short Film Festival of Tangier - Mention Award
5 Boston Documentary and Short Film Competition- The Best Short Film
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