As part of the 16th Kurdish Film Festival Berlin 2026
Festival Focus: Kurds in the Soviet Union – Between Memory, Identity, Deportation and Renewal
The Kurdish Film Festival Berlin is honoured to welcome Eskerê Boyîk, one of the most important contemporary authors of Kurdish literature. In this special reading, the 84-year-old writer presents his autobiography Riya Jiyana Min (The Path of My Life), a moving testimony to memory, identity, and the lives of Kurds in the former Soviet Union.
Eskerê Boyîk's life reflects the experiences of an entire generation. Due to political persecution, his family was forced to leave the Serhed region and settle in Armenia. There he grew up and became part of an extraordinary Kurdish cultural milieu that produced prominent intellectuals and writers such as Erebê Şemo, Qanatê Kurdo, Heciyê Cindî, Casimê Celîl, and Celîlê Celîl. Together, they shaped the development of Kurdish language, literature, and scholarship for decades.
In Riya Jiyana Min, Boyîk intertwines his personal memories with the collective history of the Kurds in the Soviet Union. He writes about displacement and new beginnings, cultural resilience, language as a homeland, and the responsibility of preserving history for future generations. At the same time, his work offers valuable insights into the history and traditions of the Êzîdî religion and the cultural life of Kurdish communities in Armenia and across the former Soviet Union.
Following the reading, Eskerê Boyîk will speak about his life, his literary work, and the significance of memory, language, and exile. The audience is warmly invited to join the conversation with the author.
This event is part of the festival focus "Kurds in the Soviet Union – Between Memory, Identity, Deportation and Renewal." Bringing together literature and history, it creates a space for dialogue about an important chapter of Kurdish history that remains little known outside the Kurdish community.
