65th anniversary of Amuda cinema massacre commemorated

The Hori Center for Culture and Art in Amuda, Jazira canton, organized a cultural event to commemorate the martyrs of the Amuda cinema massacre, in which residents of the city, representatives of civil society organizations, the Mesopotamia Movement for Democratic Culture and Art, the Rojava Film Commune, and a number of intellectuals, poets, and artists participated.

The event was held at the site of the Amuda cinema "Shahrazad" monument, where 20 paintings by 11 artists from the Free Word Forum were displayed on the cinema walls. These paintings depicted the suffering and pain resulting from the tragic cinema incident.

The commemoration began with holding a minute of silence in honor of the martyrs. Then, the Rojava Film Commune issued a statement in terms of the fifth Rojava International Film Festival.

After that, Kurdyar Derei, the member of the Jazira Canton Intellectuals Union, delivered a speech in which he asserted that the cinema fire was premeditated and aimed at the extermination of the Kurdish people.

Bashir Mulla Nawaf, the member of the Jazira Intellectuals Union and a witness to the incident, recited a poem he dedicated to the mothers of the martyrs.

Then, two witnesses to the Amuda cinema fire, Mohamed Amin Abdel Salam and Rashid Fati, spoke, giving their narratives of the incident's beginning, making clear that they had been invited to attend a film screening, and during the show, the hall caught fire, a moment that remains vividly etched in their memories.

The commemoration concluded with a performance by the artist Samir Orkesh, who presented a selection of songs that embodied the tragedy of the Amuda cinema fire.

J.J

ANHA