The European Tolerance Festival will be opened on 30th May in Villach with a film documentary about the life of the 26-year-old politician Leyla, who returns to her Kurdish homeland on the Syrian-Turkish border 20 years after her flight to Germany. Leyla becomes the youngest mayor of Turkey, but her past is catching up quickly. Even before Leyla is deposed by the Turkish government, director Asli Özarslan accompanies the young woman with the camera and has thus created a gripping time document. After years of economic recovery, approach to the EU and largely internal peace, Turkey is currently experiencing a wave of authoritarian repression and bourgeois-like conditions in the Kurdish regions. It is precisely in this climate of fear that the movie “Dil Leyla” takes his viewers on a trip to the small town of Cizre in the Kurdish region. The film tells the story of a woman who leaves Germany to bring about positive effects in her home country. Their environment reacts skeptically to their intentions, because her father had paid his resentment against state reprisals with life. The film team was in contact with Leyla three months ago. “Leyla herself did not expect the situation to escalate after the parliamentary elections, and that the Turkish government act so brutal against Kurdish institutions and the local people,” says producer Sabrina Proske. But she is a fighter, she wants to be there for the people. “The inhabitants of Cizre stand behind her, that gives her strength,” according to the producer. It is no coincidence that this film opens up European tolerance talks, but the future of freedom and the question of how Europe can defend itself against antidemocratic tendencies is at the heart of the Tolerance Festival in Carinthia. “We are delighted to have found a worthy framework for the previews of the film with the Tolerance Talks, because the story of ‘Dil Leyla’ stands for the commitment of a strong woman to give hope for a peaceful life in tolerance and freedom”, says Christa Auderlitzky, managing director of filmdelights, the movie distribution company of “Dil Leyla”. “DIL LEYLA” will be shown on screen at the Stadtkino Villach on May 30 at 7 pm (admission: voluntary donations). Co-operation partners are die City of Villach, filmdelights, and the Villach Brewery. This is followed by a discussion with the producer of the film, Sabrina Proske, about the challenges of politics in Turkey. (ws)
