Peter Boyle
A short animated film made by a group of women and artists in Rojhilat (East Kurdistan) in Iran, ‘Rehevalen Jîna Amini’ / ‘Comrades of Jîna Amini’, will be shown at the ‘Love, Art and Revolution’ Film Festival, which will take place in Sydney, Australia on 27-29 April.
Jîna (Mahsa) Amini commanded the attention of freedom-loving people all around the world as the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who was killed by the so-called “morality police” for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly, in September 2022.
Her killing sparked a popular uprising that continues to challenge the despotic Islamic fundamentalist regime in Iran under the now iconic slogan: ‘Jin Jiyan Azadî!’ / ‘Woman, Life, Freedom!’
The film was created to support the campaign by the Green Left Party in the 14 May Turkish general election.
The Green Left Party (Yeşil Sol Parti, YSP) is the electoral vehicle through which the left and pro-Kurdish freedom Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the third largest party in the outgoing Turkish parliament, will contest the elections.
The HDP has been forced to take part in this election through the YSP because of the relentless repression it has been subjected to by the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan .
HDP members, leaders, parliamentarians, mayors and other local government representatives have been arrested, imprisoned and removed from democratically elected positions. There is an ongoing court action to close down the HDP.
The underground collective that made the film, goes by the pen name “Dilan Pepule Azadî”. They explained their reasons for making this animation:
“As comrades of Jîna Amini, we are activists who have been struggling for a long time with the perspective of Jin, Jiyan, Azadî.
“We know very well that the same struggle has been going on in Bakur (North Kurdistan) for over 40 years.
“We are aware that this struggle has brought many gains to Kurds in general and women in particular. These gains are now under great pressure.
“The success of the Green Left Party is the success of women. The success of the Green Left Party will herald the spring in the Middle East, especially in Iran. This success would be a gift to the world.
“We wanted to salute the struggle of the Green Left Party and it is in this context that we launched the animated film ‘Comrades of Jîna Amini’.
“Wherever there is an oppressive regime, we will be the comrades of those who resist.”
The incredible spirit of resistance and rebellion expressed in ‘Comrades of Jîna Amini’ illustrates the power of the idea that the liberation of women is at the heart of all true struggle for human liberation today. It is an idea that is shaking the foundations both of the despotic Islamist regime in Iran and of the Erdoğan regime in Turkey.
* Peter Boyle is a well known journalist and political activist living in Sydney, Australia. He is also a correspondent of the Green Left Journal.
