Zaynê Akyol
Canada | 2022 | 129 min
World premiere
Languages : Arabic, English, French, Kurdish
Subtitles : English, French
After the impressive Gulistan, Land of Roses (VdR 2016), the Kurdish filmmaker Zaynê Akyol returns with these conversations with imprisoned members of the Islamic State, alternating their words with aerial views of the countryside. An unexpected look at a far-reaching current political issue and a film whose subject matter and rhythm create an impressive cinematic object.
A camera aboard a drone flies over a territory. The aerial images show barren landscapes, dotted with shabby houses, animals and a few human figures. We scarcely have time to wonder where we are when a text appears on the screen directly addressing the viewer: we are in Syrian Kurdistan, liberated from the occupation of the Islamic State, whose jihadist members are currently in prison. The woman who speaks has been given permission to question them; about their ideas, their past and the future. The Kurdish filmmaker Zaynê Akyol, who made a great impression on the Visions du Réel audience in 2016 with Gulîstan, Land of Roses, shows towards them dialectic behaviour typical of those who want to understand before they pass sentence. Their stories thus take shape, framed by a mise en scène that shifts between words, faces and aerial views of the landscape. An unexpected look at a far-reaching current political issue and a film whose subject matter and rhythm create an impressive cinematographic object.
Luciano Barisone
Gulîstan, Terre de roses, 2016
Sous deux ciels, 2010
Isminaz, 2009
