De zwijgende reiziger

A Silent Traveller was conceived in Kurdistan, written in Holland and shot in Greece. Ibrahim Selman wanted to make the film because very few films about Kurds have been made by Kurds. His film became a narrative about Kurdish reality inrecent decades; a reality dictated by a struggle for power and by the continuing chasm in the country; a country of soldiers and peshmergas (Kurdish resistance fighters), of measures and counter-measures, of murders and repression.In a nameless village, a couple of soldiers want to kill Silo’s sheep for food. That night there is a confrontation between the soldiers and peshmergas. Next day Silo decides to buy a pistol to defend himself. The confrontation appears to have been incidental, life in the village goes on: as always the village idiot Azad provides a commentary on all events.One day Silo’s nephew Moho returns as a young officer to the village. He soon finds out that some people are hiding weapons. Even his own uncle is apparently involved. His feelings for Kurde, the daughter of Silo, make it difficult for him to follow his superiors’ instructions.