Hosted by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality and delivered by the Middle East Cinema Academy and Sînebîr, the 3rd Amed International Film Festival has opened with a grand ceremony. In their opening remarks, Co-Mayors Serra Bucak and Doğan Hatun invited everyone to follow the festival.

Held under the slogan “The world comes together through stories”, the festival will run from 7 to 14 December, screening 84 films. The opening was attended by Co-Mayors Serra Bucak and Doğan Hatun; Metropolitan Municipal Council Co-Spokespersons Demet Ceylan and Ayhan Karatekin; council members; district municipality co-mayors; Secretary General Emrullah Gördük; deputy secretaries general; and representatives of political parties and civil society organisations.

With large numbers of cinema lovers filling the Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre, the festival opened with the Rê/Yol Exhibition, inspired by Yılmaz Güney’s film Yol and featuring works by 16 artists. The co-mayors and audiences toured the exhibition.

Taking to the stage to deliver the opening remarks, Co-Mayors Serra Bucak and Doğan Hatun greeted the audience.

Co-Mayor Bucak: We are delighted to come together again

Saying they were delighted to reunite under the light of the projector after a long break, Co-Mayor Bucak said: “Countless stories woven into Amed’s ancient streets, stones and collective memory are meeting the silver screen once again after eight years. Because we know this city exists not only through the weight of its history, but also through the transformative power of storytelling, hope and cinema.”

‘We will journey through stories together’

Calling the gathering “not merely a film programme, but a shared space and a shared journey where languages, cultures and perspectives meet”, Co-Mayor Bucak continued: “Here tonight, in the dim light of the same auditorium, leaning back in the same red seats, we will travel together through countless stories over the course of this week. In the days ahead, this hall will become not only a screening venue, but a meeting place where emotions, faces, memories and languages flow into one another. Because cinema is one of the deepest bonds formed by people sitting side by side in a dark room, their eyes turned towards the light.”

Referring to the opening exhibition that traces the legacy of Yılmaz Güney’s Yol—a film that began its journey 45 years ago and drew countless cinema lovers in its wake—Bucak said the exhibition would prompt a renewed reckoning with collective memory and remind audiences of cinema’s historical resilience. She added: “And of course, this year’s opening film, the documentary Kardeş Türküler, will remind us once again of the melody of singing together, resisting together and living together.”

“This festival is a fresh start for our city to breathe again—through culture, art, peace and shared life.”

“We do not see this festival simply as an arts event,” Bucak concluded. “This festival is a beginning—one in which our city breathes again through culture, art, peace and shared life. Amed is beginning once more to produce, to tell stories, to multiply. We all know that art is the strongest light lit against the darkness. And tonight, Amed is lighting that light again. We are truly happy to breathe in this magical atmosphere together.”

Hatun: This is Kurdish cinema’s answer

Co-Mayor Doğan Hatun began his remarks by paying tribute to Yılmaz Güney—who opened a path for Kurdish cinema 45 years ago—as well as Halil Dağ, whom he described as a source of strength and courage, and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, whom he called a friend of the Kurdish people. Congratulating the artists behind the Yol exhibition, Co-Mayor Hatun said: “It truly left a deep impact on all of us. Thank you for your work. From here, we are calling on all the people of Diyarbakır: come to this festival—and the exhibition will also remain open for a month. After nine years, our friends had been waiting for this day with excitement. Let those who seek to suppress Kurdish culture and cinema know that this festival is an answer to them as well. This is Kurdish cinema’s answer. Yılmaz Güney opened this path 45 years ago, and no one can close that path. May our festival be blessed.”

Concert and opening film screening

Following the speeches, Ali Akbar Moradi gave a concert. The Govend group of the Women’s Culture, Arts and Literature Association (KASED) performed a halay dance from the Şanlıurfa region.

Later in the evening, the festival’s opening film—the documentary Kardeş Türküler, directed by Çayan Demirel and Ayşe Çetinbaş—was screened for audiences.

After the screening, Co-Mayors Serra Bucak and Doğan Hatun presented flowers to the documentary’s directors and producers.