On The Way to School

A young teacher arrives in a remote Kurdish village. The run-down school building has clearly not been used for years. The relationship to school and civilisation has ruptured, and the teacher’s first task is to find the pupils and persuade their parents to let them go to school. Prejudices run high, as the Turkish teacher represents the conqueror, especially given that Kurdish is not allowed in school.

The pupils’ fervour for learning raises thoughts on the essence of humanity: what are the gains of learning and civilisation, how important is the role of knowledge to people? The Turkish-Kurdish directing duo has found an important angle in approaching an explosive issue in their country. Is it good that the archaic world of the Kurdish village is changed and integrated into the majority culture through school? At the same time, people learn to read, write and find something new in themselves.

Erkko Lyytinen | Translation by Anna Volmari