ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Diyarbakir’s annual theatre festival began on Friday. This is the ninth edition of the festival in the Kurdish city in Turkey’s southeast and this year it features 14 productions in the Kurdish language, in addition to five in Turkish. “The 9th Amed Theater Festival starts today. This is a great joy for us… Without rest, we brought it to fruition today,” festival director Ozcan Ates told Rudaw’s Mashallah Dakak on Friday. Amed is the Kurdish name for Diyarbakir. The festival also includes two plays from Kirkuk and Duhok, as well as two more from Saqqez and Urmia in Iran. “All different cultures, all different minds are sitting together in this garden today, talking and I hope that this will be a map of the political situation of Kurdistan so that they can sit together and discuss,” actor Adil Hassan told Rudaw. Public Kurdish figures and politicians attended the festival opening, including the newly-elected DEM Party co-mayors. “During the election, we made a promise to our people and we have fulfilled our first promise,” said co-mayor Dogan Hatun. Prior to the electoral victory of Hatun and his co-mayor Serra Bucak last month, Diyarbakir had been under the administration of a state-appointed trustee who replaced the elected pro-Kurdish mayors. In an interview with Rudaw during the campaign, Hatun pledged to revive Kurdish art and culture in the city, including helping with the theatre festival. https://www.rudaw.net/turkish/interview/11032024 The festival is scheduled to run until April 27, with two plays performed each evening. Amed Theater Festival has become well known for its independent and alternative theatre, persevering amidst economic and political challenges since 2017. Through culture and art, it fosters community engagement, particularly among youth, promoting free expression and the Kurdish language in the arts.
