THE PASHA, MY MOTHER AND I

Duration:
83 min

Type:
Documentary

Year:
2023

Producer:
Bram Crois, Mark Daems

Country:
Belgium

Languages:
French, Dutch, Kurdish

Subtitles:
English

I was raised by a Kurdish activist’, filmmaker Nevine recounts. For the last 40 years her mother, Pervine Jamil, has been running her Kurdish Bureau in Brussels. Her main activity – still today at the age of 80 – is publishing her monthly newsletter, in which she communicates about the Kurdish struggle around the world.
Nevine’s childhood was dominated by her mother’s dream of a free Kurdistan. Pervine inherited this dream from her father, Ekrem Cemil Pasha, one of the founders of the modern Kurdish movement. His grandfather was a pasha in Diyarbakir but after the fall of the Ottoman Empire their family was betrayed and exiled by Atatürk. Nevine’s mother Pervine was raised in exile where she sacrificed her life for the Kurdish cause. Will she be the last in line of this dynasty to fight for their long-lasting family legacy?
Will the burden of this legacy, passed on from generation to generation, fade with the filmmaker? Nevine’s dilemma is emphasized when she gives birth, and a new generation is born.
‘The Pasha, my mother and I’ is Nevine’s personal journey revisiting her rich Kurdish family history with the help of her mother Pervine.

Nevine Gerits has always been interested in telling stories. At 18 she decided to study film at the Brussels School of Arts, Sint Lukas. Nevine started her career in 2000 in television work with public and commercial production companies. Between 2000 and 2015 she went from working as a researcher, editor, and reporter to pursuing her vocation as a director. 15 years of audiovisual experience have prepared her to tell her family’s story.
‘Le Pacha, ma mère et moi’ is Nevine’s debut feature documentary.