GEZNAKH - Atra is a documentary about Alexandro Yaramis' search for roots. He travels through former North Mesopotamia. He crosses Assyrian settlements that are in the middle of the conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK. When he hears that a church is being built in his father's village, Geznakh, he decides to make this important journey
The landscape is marked by numerous military posts but also by centuries-old churches. The situation is sharply divided, but at last the stories reach beyond the borders of troubled Turkey. The story begins on the Tigris, one of the two most important rivers in Turkey. Then we stop in Derqubbe.
A stricken family, living there for generations, suddenly shared their land with strangers. Kurdish gangs have been fiddling with the land registers. The penultimate stop is Meer, in the middle of a high-risk area. The village is inhabited by one family, the Dirils. In the early 2020s, they are startled by the disappearance of their parents. Father Hurmuz has not yet been found. Turkey, despite all its technology, fails. The village of Meer threatens to turn into a ghost town. The search for my Atra, my heimat.
Photo ©: Marcel Top, Louis Delbarre
TELEVISION/ONLINE
Atra, Vranckx & De Nomaden, 06/03/2021, VRT/Canvas. Te bekijken op VRT.NU tot 06/08/2021.
PRESS COVERAGE
Alexandro Yaramis uit Ieper gaat tijdens Vranckx en de Nomaden op zoek naar zijn roots, Krant Van West-Vlaanderen, 17/02/2021.
