Rubble, cardboard, and loose clothing are all signs of abandonment or evacuation. In the case of Grzegorz Piekarski and Natalia Pietsch’s The Town That Drove Away, these things are the result of the forced relocation of the townsfolk of Hansankeyf, a small town rich in history along the Tigris River in southeastern Turkey. Home to Kurds and Arabs for generations, Hansankeyf’s inhabitants are being forced to move to a newly built town nearby so the 12,000-year-old settlement can be demolished and flooded to construct the Ilisu Dam for the South Eastern Anatolia Project. As the documentary informs viewers at the start, “It is estimated that in the region known as Northern Kurdistan over 350,000 people were forced to relocate.”
The film seeks not to dwell on the complexities of renewable energy sourcing but focuses instead on the human emotions and consequences in the name of progress. Two of the film’s primary subjects are Burak, a barber, and Rengin, a student who lives with her family up until the relocation. Burak’s anger over the unfairness of the situation is palpable, as is Rengin’s sorrow over the livelihoods and traditions that will never be the same as they used to be.
The government has built new homes for Hansankeyf’s former residents, which are as shiny and crisp as one would expect. But as we hear, the townsfolk are not permitted to make any changes to them. The shots of them, both up close and from a distance, prove them to be a very tidy, uniform field of identical and near-identical structures. This, coupled with the loss of their livestock, indicates a new kind of dependence on the government and a departure from their self-sufficiency and as well as their individuality.
A memorable aspect of the film is the striking cinematography. One of the first shots is layered, with mountains in the furthest distance, the town in front of it, a bridge in front of that, and in the foreground a beach on which a single file of brown cows moves like ants along the view of the stationary camera. The composition is as vivid as an oil painting. There are also moments where a viewer feels out of place, such as when a stone wall and window of a building, on a flatbed, glides along the road like a ship. In another scene, we watch as a backhoe loader digs up the road in front of Burak’s shop from inside as he cuts hair and older men on lawn chairs sit and look on.
Despite the unhappy premise and eventual grim acceptance by residents of their removal, the film makes room for lighthearted moments, such as when a loudspeaker voice intones that there’s “a ban on keeping large grazing animals in the new town” as an enormous pack of such creatures are being herded through the old town’s main thoroughfare. Burak’s interactions with friends and customers also provoke smiles.
The film captures the sorrowful final days of an old and storied community who are forced to leave behind their homes and start anew. It does not close on a happy note, but rather eerily with an underwater tour of what remains of the old Hansankeyf, which has quickly become entombed with sea flora and fauna attaching itself to the last standing (albeit submerged) structures, complete with schools of fish. It’s bittersweet to see that while the previous tenants have gone, the now-underwater site of the old town is still, ironically, teeming with life. Highly Recommended. Editor's Choice.
What academic subjects or media education courses would benefit from this documentary?
For academic librarians, The Town That Drove Away would be great source material for professors teaching with film, particularly for courses pertaining to the humanities, geopolitics, environmental sciences, and engineering. Its focus on forced relocation, infrastructure development, and the human cost of large-scale projects makes it especially relevant for discussions around sustainability, ethics, and the unintended consequences of modernization. As a Kurdish displacement documentary, it also fits well within courses on Middle Eastern studies, human rights, and migration, offering a grounded, human-scale perspective on policies that are often discussed in abstract terms.
Is this Kurdish displacement documentary a strong choice for library collections or film programming?
Yes, particularly for libraries that prioritize international documentaries, human rights topics, or environmental issues. The Town That Drove Away offers a visually striking and emotionally grounded look at displacement, making it a valuable addition for patrons interested in global affairs and underreported stories. Its focus on the Kurdish region and the impact of the Ilisu Dam project helps fill a gap in many collections, where these perspectives are often underrepresented.
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