Kut al Amara – From Tale to Truth | Documentary Film Screening & Q&A
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
An untold WWI story on screen at Birkbeck University Cinema — followed by a Q&A with director Koray Demir, moderated by Prof. Nezih Erdoğan.
Film Screening: Kut al Amara – From Tale to Truth
An Untold Story of World War I
Discover a lesser-known World War I story at Birkbeck University Cinema. Join us for a special screening of Kut al Amara – From Tale to Truth, directed by Koray Demir, followed by a Q&A with the director and Prof. Nezih Erdoğan.
About the Film
This documentary revisits the 1916 Siege of Kut al-Amara, where the Ottoman Empire resisted the British Empire. It explores the human stories behind the conflict, highlighting the anatomy of a past superpower’s downfall at the hands of one of the weakest communities.
The film was born out of years of research and special field trips to battlefields by director Koray Demir, who is also a historian. Filming took place over three years in seven countries — Türkiye, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the USA — and involved thousands of minutes of interviews with historians, journalists, and descendants of tribal leaders. Despite the extreme danger of these locations, the team safely filmed all battlefields in Iraq, overcoming unique production challenges to create a compelling and visually rich documentary.
After the Screening
Join a Q&A with director Koray Demir, moderated by Prof. Nezih Erdoğan, discussing the film’s historical context, visual storytelling, and the production journey.
Presented in collaboration with Yunus Emre Enstitüsü – London.
About the Director
Koray Demir, born in 1974 in İzmit, Türkiye, is a director, producer, and writer. He graduated from Erciyes University’s Cinema and TV Department and earned an MA in History from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. Since 2002, he has directed over 250 commercials, more than 1,000 TV programs, and several TV drama episodes, with production offices across the MENA region. His creative work explores cultural identity, heritage, and untold histories. His latest documentary, Kut al Amara – From Tale to Truth, has received international acclaim and multiple awards in 2024 and 2025. He is also the author of the book Reason of the State.
About the Moderator
Prof. Nezih Erdoğan teaches Film Theory, Film History, and Storytelling at Istinye University, Istanbul. He has published extensively on Turkish cinema, colonial discourse, and national identity, and has co-edited books including Shifting Landscapes: Film and Media in European Context and Exploring Past Images in a Digital Age: Reinventing the Archive.
Contact name: Matthew Barrington
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