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Kurdish women's struggle

Commander Arian
Regissør: Alba Sotorra
(Tyskland/Spania)

Alba Sotorra spent five months on the Kurdish front line in Syria, following the life of one of the women's fighters in the Women's Protection Unit.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

The Women's Protection Unit (YPJ) is the lesser-known Kurdish female army – allied with the People's Protection Units (YPG) – which fights in northern and Kurdish Syria. YPJ stands for Yekineyen Parastina Jin. The army started as a defense army when IS attacked Kurdish areas. Troops in both YPJ and YPG choose their own command. As Arian explains in the movie, the goal of the YPJ army is to defend women's freedom. Although women fight side by side and in collaboration with male soldiers, it is absolutely forbidden to confide in them secret or personal matters.

Alba Sotorra's new movie Commander Arian focuses on one of YPJ's commanding officers, Arian Afrin, whom the director follows both behind and to the front line. When we meet Arian, she is in a hostel for women, on the path of recovery after being hit by five bullets six weeks earlier. Scenes from the reunion period are merged with scenes from the front, which were filmed the year before. The first impression is that Arian misses the soldier's life: the struggles, the comrades, the strains – and the joy of succeeding. Her thoughts reflect a romantic view of war, which in reality is often both piggy – especially in Syria with the many different groups fighting each other – and boring.

Arian wants to liberate his society and his gender.

Commander Arian is yet another movie about "the war in the Middle East", yet very different from movies like Peshmerga og No Place for Tears. Above all, it offers a clear female and feminist (?) Perspective.

Feminist liberation

Arian is part of a group working to liberate villages and towns around Kobane, such as Tell Abyad in Raqqa Province. The warriors are dressed in camouflage suits with colorful scarves, but no helmets. There is limited access to ammunition. Exactly what to do seems unclear – at times it all seems uncoordinated. What should they do with a prisoner suspected of being an IS man? What about the civilian population of liberated villages? This remains unclear, and questions of justice and revenge are not touched.

Sotorra spent five weeks at the front with Arian, and another two months as she recovered from the gunshot wound. While we see Arian both in the role of commander and as a commander, she tells by voiceover about her past, what motivates her, her experiences and reflections: After experiencing a case of honor killing as a child, Arian decided to fight for her own freedom rather than fall into a traditional women's role. When the opportunity arose, repelled by the raw material IS used, especially against women, she became a guerrilla soldier. Arian claims that she not only defends her rights related to culture and the country, but also her rights as a woman: She wants to liberate her society and her gender.

When they are not fighting for YPJ, the women take care of themselves and each other. They share personal stories from the past and about their families. Arian transfers his own goals to the group by discussing with new recruits what motivation and goals they have. She encourages them to think through what women they want to be – and to fight for it. She blames them for not liking the answers they give and encourages them to take control of their lives. Arian and the other experienced warriors talk about how the experiences at YPJ have boosted their confidence: fighting as an alternative education.

The future of Kurdistan

Rehabilitation, first in the hospital and later at the YPJ headquarters in Kobane, is time consuming. There is nothing much more to be done than to heal the wounds, talk to friends and family members – and simply wait for the recovery to come. Because in the end, it does. Just as Kobane is rebuilt and life returns to the city, so Arian returns to life, eventually working at the Center for Injured Women in Afrin.

The war is an alternative education.

Not everything is successful – the troops also experience setbacks. It reminds us that the fight against IS interferes with the ongoing struggle for Kurdish independence. An intervention with an added value that is debatable: What will be the gain for the Kurdish people and their armies if the war in Syria comes to an end? Not to mention the women's gain? Earlier, Bernard-Henri Lévy has expressed optimism, as the Kurds have apparently created stability in their "region". But the story is full of examples of lack of loyalty from former allies; it makes it difficult to share such optimism.

Willemien W. Sanders
Willemien W. Sanders
Sanders is a critic, living in Rotterdam.

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