The Town That Drove Away

| The Town That Drove Away
(Filmladen)

Hasankeyf, a Kurdish town with a thousand-year-old history, is going to drown. The construction of the Ilısu dam is nearly complete, and the Turkish government plans to relocate all inhabitants to New Hasankeyf, a bleak new town of identical concrete blocks. We observe how tourist agencies advertise diving adventures while the last residents watch as centuries-old monuments are dismantled and shipped away. Loudspeakers announce the relocation schedule while electricity is cut and the water level slowly rises – a political power play captured in precisely framed images.

  • Duration: 70 Min.
  • Countries: Kurdistan
  • Languages: Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish
  • Subtitles: English
  • Production year: 2025

  • Director: Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski
  • Camera: Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski
  • Editing: Alan Zejer
  • Sound: Tomasz Dukszta
  • Production: Katarzyna Kostecka
  • Website: https://www.journeyman.tv/film/8798
  • Nominated: Goldener Key