Kurdish Insurgents and Postgeneration: Big Village as an Interactive Memory Work
Kurdish Insurgents and Postgeneration: Big Village as an Interactive Memory Work

Summary/Abstract: The Kurdish people, lacking a sovereign state of their own,reside within the boundaries of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syr-ia, where they are subjected to the rules and identities ofthese nations, often facing restrictions on their culturalexpression. This situation has disabled their entry into thefilmmaking, with documentaries becoming their preferredmedium due to its cost-effectiveness and simpler techni-cal demands. These documentaries typically delve into theKurds’ painful historical experiences. Big Village (2020), di-rected by Beri Shalmashi and Lyangelo Vazquez, stands outas the first Kurdish interactive web documentary (i-doc).It intricately weaves personal and social narratives, focus-ing on several families and a Kurdish insurgent group fromEastern Kurdistan. The i-doc explores the stories of theformer residents of Gewredê, a village that has since van-ished. It uniquely blends old photos and video clips to craftits narrative. This study aims to analyse Big Village throughthe lens of the insurgents’ memories, the inherited mem-ories of their children, and the use of archival materials,examining how an interactive documentary can effectivelycommunicate historical traumas to modern viewers.

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