The Culture and Tourism Ministry has blocked the theatrical release of Rojbash, a film that tells the story of a group of Kurdish stage actors reuniting after 25 years.
The ministry deemed the film “unsuitable for commercial circulation,” a decision that prompted a legal challenge from the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), which announced on Oct 9 that it had filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban.
Producer Özkan Küçük criticized the decision, emphasizing the cultural importance of the film. “I never expected this project, which focuses on Kurds practicing their art in their native language, to end up in court. All my efforts were to ensure the film reached as wide an audience as possible," he told MLSA.
Küçük noted that the ministry's decision effectively banned the film from being shown in cinemas. “It is unacceptable for a committee, whose job is to classify films, to block a film we’ve worked on for nearly six years from reaching audiences,” he added.
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Parliamentary inquiry
Sinan Çiftyürek, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, submitted a parliamentary inquiry to Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, raising concerns about censorship.
The inquiry asked for clarification on the reasoning behind the ban and whether the film predominantly being in the Kurdish language played a role in the decision.
He also requested data on the ministry’s support for Kurdish theater and cinema over the past five years, including the number of Kurdish-language films that have been banned and the reasons for their prohibition.
The MP also asked how many Kurdish-language films or theater productions have been banned by the ministry over the past five years, and what were the reasons for these bans. (VK)