English, Kurdish, Turkish

Filmed in the highlands of Kurdistan’s mountainous terrain in Iraq, the first film in Marwa Arsanios’ series Who Is Afraid of Ideology? focuses on the Kurdish autonomous women’s movement and its structures of self-governance and knowledge production. The artist’s documentary portrayal weaves together stories and conversations with members of the autonomous women’s movement fighting for political self-determination through guerrilla action. Ecological and feminist themes take center stage in the movement’s activities: life in the mountains redefines and transforms gender roles, cultivating skills that patriarchal structures have historically attempted to take away. The artist’s choice to present testimonies with non-diegetic sound challenges the classic narrative format of the documentary, drawing attention to the difference between hearing and understanding.

• Sektion Section: Artist in Focus. Marwa Arsanios
• Programm Programme: Programme 5