Dil Leyla

GER 2016, 71 min, Asli Özarslan

At 26, a young Kurdish-German woman is elected the youngest mayor in Turkey. In a record 81% landslide she is elected mayor of Cizre, a Kurdish capital city that lies in the war-torn region at Turkey’s border with Syria and Iraq.

It is here that Leyla was born, but after her father was killed by the Turkish military, she was sent at the age of 5 to live in Germany. After more than 20 years, she returns home. Her goal is to heal and beautify the civil-war-torn city, which is enjoying a break in the violence. But on the eve of Turkey’s parliamentary elections, everything changes, and old memories become more real than ever.

festivals

IDFA – International Documentary FF Amsterdam 2016 NL | Max Ophüls FF Saarbrücken 2017 DE | Thessaloniki Documentary FF 2017 GR | One World FF Prague 2017 CZ | Movies that Matter FF Den Haag 2017 NL | Achtung Berlin - new Berlin film award 2017 DE | Crossing Europe FF 2017 AT | Sehsüchte Int. FF 2017 DE | DOK.fest Munich 2017 DE | FIDADOC 2017, MA  | dokKa Film Festival 2017, DE | Krakow Film Festival 2017, PL | Toleranzgespräche 2017, AT | Int. Doc. & Short FF Kerala 2017, IN | Ischia FF 2017, IT | DUHOK Int. Film Festival 2017, IQ, | Nuremberg Int. Human Rights FF 2017, DE | Arabisches FF Thübingen 2017, DE | Document Int. Human Rights FF 2017, UK | Escales Documentaire 2017, FR | Elle Tournent FF 2018, BE | Jetzt oder Nie - Filmtage Friedrichshafen 2018, DE | Copenhagen Kurdish FF 2018, DK | One World Romania Int. Human Rights Documentary FF 2018, RO | Lisbon Kurdish FF 2018, PT | London Kurdish FF 2018, UK | Festival international du film de Nancy 2018, FR | Films Femmes Méditerranée 2018, FR | Globale Film Festival Berlin 2018, DE

awards

Human Rights Award (Fidadoc FF 2017), Nominated for the First Step Award 2017, Open Eyes Youth Jury Award (Nuremberg Int. Human Rights FF 2017), Special Jury Mention (Festival International du Film de Nancy 2018), Prix du Documentaire (Films Femmes Méditerranée 2018)
 

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