Kobanê

The film Kobanê depicts the successful 2014 struggle of the Kurdish-led forces against ISIS jihadists to lift the harrowing six-month siege of the city of Kobanê, in northern Syria.

Directed by Özlem Yaşar and co-produced by the Rojava Film Commune and the Kurdish arts movement TEV-ÇAND, the film was shot in Kobanê itself. The film features 200 Kurdish fighters and internationalists.

The film received its North American premiere at the sixth edition of the New York Kurdish Film Festival. The NYKCC then screened the film three times in December 2022.

For more information, visit the film’s website. 

Film synopsis:

In 2014, at the peak of its strength, ISIS controls over half of Syria and Iraq and is relentlessly pushing toward the Kurdish Syrian city of Kobanê. Zehra, a 32-year-old Kurdish woman, is a member of the force that fights to keep them out. But despite their efforts, ISIS keeps advancing with brutal force.

As the invasion reaches the center of Kobane, the leading Kurdish commander, Rojwar, takes fright and abandons the fighters. Zehra takes his place and leads the resistance.

The arrival of Gelhat and his comrades, experienced guerrilla fighters who are familiar with urban warfare, slows the ISIS advance. But the Kurds are outnumbered and outgunned, and ISIS manages to lay siege to the city. Day by day, with dwindling numbers and resources, the Kurdish resistance loses territory. Their plan to retake the city falls apart when ISIS launches a crushing multisided attack on them, and many Kurdish fighters fall martyrs, including Gelhat.

Nonetheless Zehra and her comrades do not give up. As ISIS members lose their spirit and start to disperse, she leads the break of the siege, marking the dawn of the city’s liberation.

This is a story of faith and fear, war and resistance, camaraderie and betrayal; a story of love, loss, heroism, and sacrifice amid the intensity of war and revolution.