Kurdish directors Ayşe Polat, Soleen Yusef and Milena Aboyan were nominated in various categories for the German Film Award, an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in Germany’s film industry.
The film ‘In The Blind Spot’ by Ayşe Polat has received the German Film Award for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and the Bronze Award for Best Feature Film. Kurdish director Ayşe Polat was born in 1970 in Malatya (Meletî), southeastern Turkey, and moved to Hamburg, Germany with her family in 1978.
‘In The Blind Spot’ discusses the story of a film crew documenting the protest of the Saturday Mothers in Kars (Qers), eastern Turkey, whose sons were kidnapped and executed by the Turkish intelligence service JITEM in the 1990s. During filming, strange incidents occur connected to JITEM, despite its existence being denied by the Turkish state.
In her acceptance speech, Polat emphasised the need for empathy and explained how the screenplay was inspired by the Saturday Mothers, a protest movement of mothers in Turkey who demand answers regarding their disappeared relatives.
She dedicated the award to ‘all women who courageously fight for justice and freedom’, highlighting the diverse perspectives and stories featured at this year’s German Film Award.
Soleen Yusef’s film ‘Winners‘ tells the story of a Kurdish girl, Mona, who fled from Kurdish-led northeast Syria, known as Rojava, to Germany with a passion for football. ‘Winners’ received the award for the best children’s film. Yusef was born in 1987 in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s Duhok and fled to Germany with her family when she was nine years old.
The movie ‘Elaha‘ by Kurdish-Yazidi director Milena Aboyan was nominated for Best Female Character and Best Feature Film. The plot follows the self-discovery of a 22-year-old woman as she approaches wedlock, questioning societal traditions and sexual self-determination.
