Kurdish Sun In Winter Warsaw is an event featuring screenings of Polish and Kurdish feature and documentary films that will shed light on the realities and challenging conditions influencing Kurdish migration to Europe. All events are free of charge..
This event is part of the project Citizenship, Migration, and Women’s Activism in Kurdistan and the Diaspora, which focuses on disseminating the results of the Activism And Its Moral and Cultural Foundation: Alternative Citizenship and Women’s Roles in Kurdistan and the Diaspora (ALCITfem) project. It includes a series of discussions and workshops organized in collaboration with Polish and Kurdish institutions across Europe.
The festival will explore migration-related issues concerning both Kurdish migrants and host communities, particularly in Poland, where the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border has highlighted many urgent needs.
Special attention will be given to Kurdish women, their representation, and small-scale activism. The KURDISH SUN IN WINTER WARSAW festival is directed at the Warsaw audience, including youth, students, activists, and academics. One event is specifically designed for young viewers.
Themes such as Kurdish women’s small-scale activism, family, ecology, and cultural heritage will be further discussed in workshops accompanying the screenings. Discussions led by project participants and invited experts aim to combat the dehumanization of Kurds and women, deepen the understanding of migration causes, and improve communication between migrants and host communities.
An outdoor exhibition of works by Rounak Rasoulpour, a Kurdish artist from Rojhelat currently residing in Sweden, will accompany the festival. Rasoulpour is known for her stunning posters (including the festival poster), illustrations, and book covers, such as the Polish edition of Mehmed Dicle’s short story collection Gorączka (Fever, 2020).
Program
February 7, 2025
Opening of the exhibition “Jin Jiyan Azadî” (“Women, Life, Freedom”) by Rounak Rasoulpour
3:00 PM
Łazienki Królewskie, ul. Agrykola, entrance by the Chinese Avenue
Join us for the opening of the exhibition by Rounak Rasoulpour, a Kurdish artist from Rojhelat, currently based in Sweden. She is known for her stunning posters (including the festival poster), illustrations, and book covers, such as the Polish edition of Mehmed Dicle’s Fever (2020). The exhibition runs until February 28, 2025.
Screening of the film Silent Trees (dir. Agnieszka Zwiefka) and discussion
5:00 PM
Studio U20, Aleje Ujazdowskie 20
After the film, join us for a discussion titled “Imagination and Migration: Kurdish Women in Film and Art.”
Guests: Fatma Edemen, Wendy Hamelink, Rounak Rasoulpour
Moderator: Kaja Klimek
Runa, a sixteen-year-old Kurdish girl, fled Iraq with her family to escape ISIS attacks, finding herself at the Polish-Belarusian border like many other refugees. She eventually reaches Poland, but the price she pays for safety and asylum is immense. Her mother, heavily pregnant, dies in a hospital due to exhaustion and the harsh conditions of the border forest. Runa must quickly grow up, taking on the role of the family head to care for her four younger brothers and her father, who struggles with the mounting challenges.
Silent Trees is a creative fusion of documentary cinema and hand-drawn animation by the young protagonist. The film premiered at the Krakow Film Festival, where it won the main prize in the Polish Competition — the Golden Hobby-Horse, an honorable mention in the International Competition, and the festival’s first-ever award for the film’s protagonist, received by Runa herself. It also earned the Aleksander Kamiński Award for Overcoming Threats at the Media Festival Man in Danger by the University of Łódź.
February 8, 2025
Screening of the film Haskif (dir. Elif Yiğit) and discussion
5:00 PM
Studio U20, Aleje Ujazdowskie 20
After the film, join us for a discussion titled “Ecology: Water and Politics in the Middle East.”
Guests: Elif Yiğit, Dobrosława Wiktor-Mach, Marcin Skupiński
Moderator: Kaja Klimek
This documentary focuses on the historical settlement of Hasankeyf and its destruction by the Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River in southeastern Turkey. Hasankeyf was flooded when the Ilisu Dam began operating in early July 2020. Underwater now lie 199 settlements, including fifty villages, and thousands of people in the area were forcibly displaced.
Hasankeyf contained evidence of human activity dating back 300,000 years. It was home to archaeological sites 12,000 years old and 289 ancient burial mounds. Additionally, the region supported over 100 endemic plant and animal species.
February 9, 2025
Screening of the film Winners (dir. Soleen Yusef) and guest discussion
12:00 PM
Studio U20, Aleje Ujazdowskie 20
After the film, join us for a meeting titled “Rojava: How to Win the Game.”
Guests: Fatma Edemen, Marcin Skupiński
Eleven-year-old Mona and her Kurdish family fled Syria and ended up in Berlin. Everything is different here, and Mona misses her home, her street football friends, and especially her aunt Helin.
When her teacher notices Mona’s exceptional talent for football and selects her for the girls’ team, things don’t get easier. Mona is quickly labeled an outsider, and playing in the team proves more challenging than she expected. Each girl fights her own battles, but soon it becomes clear: they’ll only win if they play together.
Screening of the film Sonne (dir. Kurdwin Ayub) and discussion
5:00 PM
Studio U20, Aleje Ujazdowskie 20
After the film, join us for a discussion titled “Family, Identity, and Protest: Kurdish Diaspora in Europe.”
Guests: Hayal Hanoglu, Karol Kaczorowski
Moderator: Anna Cieślewska
Three teenage girls in Vienna twerk in hijabs while singing a pop song. Their YouTube video brings them instant fame, especially among Kurdish Muslims. Yesmin, the only Kurd among the friends, begins to distance herself from her culture, while Nati and Bella seem fascinated by a world unfamiliar to them. When the girls meet two young Kurdish patriots, the situation escalates.
The film explores young people torn between social media and their search for identity — a story of rebellious young women.
***
The Kurdish Sun In Winter Warsaw event is part of the Citizenship, Migration, and Women’s Activism in Kurdistan and the Diaspora project, which is part of the Science and Society: Bilateral Initiative in Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities, funded by the National Science Centre through the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (2014–2021) and the EEA Financial Mechanism (2014–2021).
Together, we work for a green, competitive, and socially inclusive Europe.
www.eeagrants.org www.norwaygrants.org
