Media and violent conflict: Halil Dağ,Kurdish insurgency,and the hybridity of vernacular cinema of conflict

Abstract

This article analyses the life and work of Halil Dağ (1973–2008), a filmmaker who worked within the Kurdish insurgent movement, with two critical goals. First, the authors use Dağ’s case to conceptualize vernacular cinema of conflict, defying traditional dichotomies between mainstream/vernacular, and fiction/non-fiction. Secondly, through Dağ’s case they seek to better understand the role of vernacular cinema of conflict for the Kurdish culture of resistance and the PKK insurgent movement in particular. Empirically, the article discusses unique ethnographic records (interviews and personal correspondence with Dağ) and a qualitative content analysis of his major films. The authors argue that the concept of vernacular cinema of conflict can serve a better comprehension of the hybrid character and impact of filmmaking in conflict zones.