Demsala Dawî: Sewaxan

"li welatê min berf xwes dibare.”- In my country, the snow falls beautifully.

Demsala Dawî is a journey. In this striking documentary, Kazim Öz offers an intimate insight into the life of the Sewaxan (Shavaks), Kurdish nomads living in the region around 

Dêrsim, across the course of four seasons. During the winter, this collectivist community shelter in their villages in Petek and Çemişgezek, but as spring breaks, wind moves through the flowers, fog envelops the mountains and the Sewaxan set off to the highlands. Brimming with visual poetry, Demsala Dawî sensitively charts the struggle for survival faced by this group of people living outside mainstream Turkish society, while at the same time serving as a celebration of the deep symbiotic bond that exists between humans and nature. (DO)

 Kazim Öz is a Kurdish director and screenwriter who plays a central role in the independent Kurdish cinema landscape. Due to his oppositional stance, he is subject to enormous censorship in Turkey, while his films have won several international film awards. 

Dila Oktar is a psychologist and freelance writer. Her own migrant family history is the origin of both her personal and professional interest in issues of social and political injustice. Dila is part of the bar team at Sinema Transtopia.