Jiyan's Story

Directed by A. Halûk Ünal

With Jiyan Tolhildan

The fascinating story of Jiyan, a female guerrilla fighter who devoted twenty years of her life in the Kurdish militant struggle, reveals women’s determination for freedom not only against another oppressive regime, but also against the patriarchy. Jiyan Tolhildan is a young Kurdish woman living in the Kurdish region of Syria. After years of oppression by her family, her teachers and the society as a whole, Jiyan decides to go to the mountains to join the Kurdish struggle for freedom. When the Arab Spring breaks out Jiyan and her friends decide to go into the cities in Syria to join the protests. They also set out to educate Syrian women on women’s rights in the Rojava region. Now, six years after the Arab Spring, Kurdish forces have a semi-autonomous region in Syria. For the first time in history, women have an autonomous political organisation and an army in Syria. The women named creating this organisation “the women’s revolution.”