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‘We Do Really Need Hollywood’: Filmmaking and Remembrance of Acts of Genocide in the Kurdish Transnation

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Memories on the Move

Part of the book series: Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship ((MDC))

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Abstract

This chapter deals with the challenges of commemoration in a post-genocide society. It focuses on the genocidal processes against the Iraqi Kurds in 1988/1989, known as the Anfal operations. The analysis is based on fieldwork with the young generation in Iraqi Kurdistan and in the Kurdish diaspora. In elaborating on the transnational dynamics of memory work, the chapter discusses the complexity of film as a mnemonic medium. Even though the medium of film carries the risk of becoming instrumentalized for national interests, films and documentaries have the potential to open up a space for memory work by serving as an archive for testimonies of survivors and as an important mnemonic reference point in the (trans)national realm.

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Six-Hohenbalken, M. (2016). ‘We Do Really Need Hollywood’: Filmmaking and Remembrance of Acts of Genocide in the Kurdish Transnation. In: Palmberger, M., Tošić, J. (eds) Memories on the Move. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57549-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57549-4_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57548-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-57549-4

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