Filmed in the harsh militarised conditions of the post–12 September period, Yılmaz Güney’s film Yol carries forward to the present the images of quiet resistance lived by individuals in the region. The RÊ/YOL Exhibition liberates these images, bringing the unseen face of history into view for audiences.
Hosted by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality and led by the Middle East Cinema Academy and Sînebîr, the International 3rd Amed Film Festival is set to begin, running for a week. Alongside screenings of 84 films from Türkiye and world cinema across feature, short and documentary formats, the festival will also stage a distinctive special event: an exhibition dedicated to Yılmaz Güney’s Yol—a film etched into public memory, still resonant through its stories and cinematic language, and a continuing source of inspiration for many filmmakers.
A story of exile
The exhibition takes as its point of departure the book Yol – A Story of Exile by producer Edi Hubsmidt, who worked on the film Zürih Kaktüs. Hubsmidt—who, while Yılmaz Güney was held in Isparta Prison in 1980, was among those involved in planning his escape together with figures such as Nihat Behram and Canan Gerede—recounts this eventful period, his subsequent role as producer in Paris, and the film’s journey to the Cannes Film Festival through photographs. Documenting the living and working conditions of a director in exile, the book was published in Kurdish, Turkish, English and German.
The festival committee invited Hubsmidt as an honorary guest. Although he accepted the invitation, he will not be able to attend the festival, having cancelled all engagements until the end of December for health reasons.
16 artists reinterpret Yol
The exhibition, developed from the book, is curated by Mahmut Wenda Koyuncu and Remzi Sever. They argued that the exhibition should not be purely documentary in nature, and suggested that young artists should also contribute to this space through their own production. Following this, 16 artists rewatched Yol and translated the imagery the film evoked for them into new works.
Alongside pieces produced across a range of disciplines—such as photography, video and painting—still images from Yol and photographs from Edi Hubsmidt’s book will also feature prominently within the exhibition.
Artists featured in the exhibition
The artists whose works will be shown are: Ahmet Karabulak, Baran Güven, Berat Işık, Berfin Çetin, Cansel Deveci, Damla Yıldari, Dilan Cudi Saruhan, Ela Saçkın, Emre Samancı, Ergin Kaya, Fevzi Koyuncu, Hasan Ankut, İlknur Çayır, Leyla Kalkan, Murat Gök, Nuşen Özün, Sevgi Sarıyıldız, Sidar Baki, Suat Yakut and Veli Mert.
The emancipation of images
Inspired by Yol, the RÊ/YOL Exhibition brings together works by young artists living in Diyarbakır, cultural workers at the Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre, and more experienced artists. During workshop sessions, the film was screened repeatedly, discussed, and used as a starting point to generate new reflections on today’s “Yol”.
The exhibition’s core aim is described as “grasping that struggles are also struggles over images”, and rereading the film’s scenes through a decolonial lens. The liberation of the image stands out as the exhibition’s central objective.
A new doorway into collective memory
This exhibition does more than prompt audiences to remember the past; it also reminds us that images—and resistance—continue in the present. RÊ/YOL sheds light on the rebuilding of collective memory, framing Yol as a film, a history and a manifesto of resistance.
The exhibition will open on the festival’s opening day, Sunday 7 December, at the Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre.
