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Min Dît

Min Dît: The Children of Diyarbakır

Movie · 2009 · 3 people

Berlin-based Kurdish filmmaker Miraz Bezar made his feature debut with Min Dît (Kurdish for "I Saw"), a Kurdish-language drama from 2009 also released as The Children of Diyarbakır and Before Your Eyes. Bezar directed it and wrote the screenplay, developing the story with the journalist and short-story writer Evrim Alataş. The film is about street children in the eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır and runs about 102 minutes. As the first Turkish film produced in Kurdish and shown with Turkish subtitles, and the first Kurdish political film made in Turkey, it holds a distinct place in the country's cinema.

The story follows two children who lose their parents during the conflict years and fight to survive on Diyarbakır's streets. Its dialogue is in Kurdish and Turkish. The cast includes Suzan Ilir, Hakan Karsak and Şenay Orak. It was produced by Bezar Film together with Fatih Akın's company Corazón International.

The film premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival in September 2009 and opened in Turkey on 2 April 2010. It won awards at San Sebastián, Antalya and Istanbul, and was the first Kurdish-language film to compete for the Golden Orange at Antalya, where the screenplay sparked debate during and after its screening. Critics responded positively.

DirectorMiraz Bezar
Production companyBezar Film, Corazón International
Min Dît: The Children of Diyarbakır Min Dît: The Children of Diyarbakır Min Dît: The Children of Diyarbakır Min Dît: The Children of Diyarbakır

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Cast

Hakan Karsak Hakan Karsak Actor · 51 years old Suzan Ilir Şenay Orak

Through different eyes

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Min Dît centres on the life of two children who lose their parents during the years of conflict, living on the streets of Diyarbakır, and so looks at the most defenceless witnesses of political violence. Its importance lies not only in its subject but in its language: being the first Turkish film shot in Kurdish and shown with Turkish subtitles shows how sensitive language and representation were in its time. Being the first Kurdish film to compete in Antalya, and the debates during and after that screening, are part of the same story. The film is not only a record of one period; it can also be read as a wider question about how violence shapes childhood.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

In his first feature, Miraz Bezar takes on the difficulty of telling a social issue through children's eyes: that viewpoint makes a strong emotional bond with the audience easier, but it also brings the film close to the trap of pity. The title, Kurdish for 'I Saw', openly declares that the story is built on bearing witness. The awards in San Sebastián, Antalya and Istanbul, along with favourable reviews, suggest Bezar largely holds that balance. Still, the real measure in films like this is whether the children exist as characters in their own right rather than as carriers of a message; it pays to watch with that question in mind.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Its heroes are children, but this is not a children's film. It tells of two children who have lost their parents fighting to survive on the street, and the subject is very heavy. It is not suitable for young children. Families who want to watch with high-school-age teens and talk about it afterwards could consider it. Put it on knowing it will not be a light evening.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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