Go to content
The Kurdish Nuriye Kesbir, a.k.a. Sozdar, is a champion of women's liberation and the freedom of her people. Annegriet Wietsma presents a committed portrait of the controversial and revered Sozdar.
'If freedom were easily obtainable, it would be unnecessary for so many people to die for its sake.' Says Nuriye Kesbir, also known as PKK leader Sozdar and champion of the Kurdish fight for independence and the emancipation of women. The filmmaker uses her film to try and unravel why someone like Hannie Schaft became a WWII resistance hero, whereas Sozdar is branded one of the most dangerous women in Europe. At the age of twelve, Kesbir and her family fled to Germany, after they had been driven from their village by Turkish soldiers. In the late eighties, she saw that the Kurds were still oppressed, so she decided to stand up and do something for 'humanity' and her people. In 1991, she joined the guerillas and moved into the mountains to fight. Annegriet Wietsma got in touch with Kesbir in 2001, when she had been imprisoned in the Netherlands on suspicion of terrorist activities. Incorporating some of Kesbir's letters, archive footage of guerrillas in the mountains and interviews with relatives and friends, the committed Wietsma tells Kesbir's eventful story.

Credits

Sound editing
Production company
Bonanza Films
TV company
IKON TV

Title: Sozdar, zij die haar belofte nakomt
Year: 2007
Duration : 1 hour, 10 minutes
Category: Long Documentary
Edition: NFF 2008

NFF Archive

You are now in the NFF Archive. The archive contains contains information on film, TV and interactive productions that were screened at past festival editions. The NFF does not dispose of this material. For this, please contact the producer, distributor or broadcaster. Sometimes, older films can also be found at the Eye Film Museum or the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.