Zilan, a young woman, returns to her home town looking for traces of her dead brother, killed by ISIS. But her town is not what it used to be: social and political tensions have escalated into a state of war. The people have risen up to demand their political autonomy and the police and army repress them with brutal force. But the city’s resistance will go on for more than 100 days and Zilan will not remain a passive witness. Based on the diaries of those who died fighting and the testimony of survivors, who are the protagonists of the film, Çelik's first feature explores concepts such as hope, friendship, sacrifice and loss in the struggle for freedom of a group of young people.
Direction
Çelik's debut uses real survivors as cast—no Hollywood distance here.
Writing
Built from actual diaries of the dead. Every word earned its place.
Director
Ersin Çelik
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on the 2015-2016 Siege of Cizre, when Turkish security forces imposed military curfews on Kurdish-majority cities. The Turkish government disputes casualty figures and blocks most international documentation.
Director Ersin Çelik shot in Syrian Kurdistan with actual YPG fighters as crew and cast, creating a production where art and lived resistance blurred—a choice that made the film nearly impossible to screen in Turkey.
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