Halabja

Di sedsala dawîn de texrîbata li ser erdnîgarî, rih û derûniya kurdan hatiye kirin bi demê re bûye perçeyek ji bîra hevpar a kurdan ku dîroka nêzîk, serpêhatiyên takekesî, hişmendiya zimên a têkçûyî, bişaftinên pirr-alî, karesatên mezin pêkhateyên vê texrîbata domdirêj in. Heta niha kurdan bi nîsbet ji pirraniya gelên din ên cîhanê gellek karesat li ser hesabê bîra xwe ya hevpar tomar kirine. Komkujiyên ku heta niha rû dane yên wekî Qoçgirî, Dersîm, Zîlan, Barzanî, Enfal, Helebceyê û karesatên ku vê taliyê li ber çavên hemû dunyayê qewimîne -Kobanî û Şengal- wekî serencama bi dehan trajediyên ku ji pirr hêlan ve nehatine nirxandin, tomarkirin, şirovekirin, li pêşberî me rawestiyane.

Towards the end of the decade long Iran–Iraq war, Saddam Hussein launched a deadly attack against the Kurds, known as the Anfal Campaign, killing more than a hundred thousand. One of the largest acts of genocide occurred on 18 March 1988 in the Kurdish city of Halabja. On that day, sweet-smelling poison gas was poured over the city, killing at least five thousand. Since 2001 Kurdish moviemakers have memorialized the tragedy of the Halabja massacre by producing cinematic dramas and narrative documentaries. These films are part of a discourse of authenticity and a politics of culture that permeate the Kurdish independence movement. This essay proposes that Halabja films can be divided into three stages: the era of consolidation, 2000 to 2009; the golden era, 2009 to early 2014; and the fall which followed the fall of Mosul to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Each era reveals new attitudes towards politics, society, and the massacre.