We explore the autonomous region of northern Syria called Rojava through a decade of films documenting conflict, resistance and the enduring resilience that remains in its wake.
Rojava is an autonomous region in Kurdistan, northern Syria, characterised by a distinctive multi-ethnic and multi-religious political model, grounded in grassroots democracy, gender equality and women’s leadership.
It has been fiercely opposed by ISIS and viewed with suspicion by neighbouring states. As a result of the challenge its model presents to existing regional power structures, Rojava has faced repeated military attacks, sieges and displacement – mostly recently in January of this year. Yet even under threat, it continues to imagine another way of living.
Kurdistan itself is divided across several nation-states, where Kurdish identity, language and culture have long been subject to repression and systematic erasure. Cinema has become a vital means of preserving cultural memory and documenting resistance. Ahead of the release of The Phantom Pain of Rojava, we’ve collated a list of four films that explore women’s experiences of conflict, resistance and political struggle in Rojava and the Kurdish region more broadly over the past 15 years.
The Phantom Pain of Rojava / dir. Maryam Ebrahimi / 2025 / 87 mins
During the Syrian civil war, women and men in Rojava took to arms to defend democracy and the rights of women. Once celebrated in the West for their role in fighting against ISIS, they now find themselves abandoned by their allies, living in secrecy and fear and labelled terrorists by the Turkish government.
The Phantom Pain of Rojava follows a group of wounded soldiers over five years as they attempt to rebuild their lives and bodies in a safe house. Maryam Ebrahimi’s empathetic lens captures the deep sense of camaraderie, care and friendship that remains amongst the former guerrillas, who never stop believing in the Women’s Revolution they dedicated their lives to protecting.
Screens from Friday 31 July – book tickets here.
Gulîstan, Land of Roses / dir. Zaynê Akyol / 2016 / 86 mins
In the mountains and deserts of Iraqi Kurdistan, the women guerillas of the Kurdistan Workers ‘Party (PKK) open the door to their daily lives. Engaged in a fierce struggle against ISIS, they candidly share their convictions, their hopes and the sacrifices their fight demands with Kurdish-Canadian filmmaker Zaynê Akyol. Intimate and immersive, Gulîstan, Land of Roses paints a portrait of these revolutionary women who, weapons in hand, defend not only a territory but a vision of the world based on freedom and equality for all.
In an attempt to understand the often disembodied threat of ISIS and the regime the women in Gulîstan, Land of Roses were fighting against, Akyol went on to make Rojek in 2022. In prison camps in Syria, Akyol encounters dozens of detained IS fighters, men and women, who share a common dream: establishing a caliphate. This disquieting film offers an intimate, uncomfortable gaze at an unknown reality, pointing to an ideological war that extends well beyond the ‘fall of ISIS’.
Read our interview with Zaynê Akyol here.
Commander Arian / dir. Alba Sotorra / 2018 / 85 mins
Faced with the amorphous threat of ISIS, 30-year old Commander Arian gathers her all-women Kurdish battalion as they fight ISIS to rescue enslaved civilians in northern Syria. For her, the armed struggle is the only path to emancipation from a deeply patriarchal society.
At her side, director Alba Sotorra documents the liberation of the city of Kobane and uncovers the reality of life at the frontline. Wounded by five bullets, Arian is forced to deal with the wounds of war, both visible and invisible, and to find new ways to fight for women’s freedom. This is an empowering portrait of a woman who is a warrior, a leader and a freedom fighter for a new future in the war-torn region.
Mediha / dir. Hasan Oswald / 2023 / 90 mins
A powerful testament to the human spirit, Mediha follows a teenage Yazidi girl as she fights to find her missing family members, in the wake of her own enslavement by ISIS.
Having survived kidnapping and captivity, and returned to her remaining family in a camp in Iraqi Kurdistan, Mediha turns her camera on herself to process her trauma. Through her personal video-diaries, she confronts her pain, while also initiating investigations into her captors. Mediha’s journey is one of courage and determination as she steps towards a future of justice and healing.