''Memi Alan'' (Kurdish: Mem û Zîn/Memî Alan û Zînî Buhtan (Mem and Zin) is a Kurdish drama that was directed by Nasir Hassan and shown by the Kurdish satellite TV station Kurdistan TV during

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

2002. '' Mem û Zîn'' is a famous novel which was written by

Ahmad Khani Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...

in 1694. It is the most important work of Kurdish writer and poet

(1651-1707). Mam and Zin is based on a true story.

Story

Mem of the Alan clan and Zin of the Buhtan clan are two lovers. Their union is blocked by a man named Bakr of the Bakran clan. Mem, a young

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

boy, falls in love with Zin, the daughter of the governor of Buhtan, while the people are celebrating ''

Newroz Newroz () is the Kurdish celebration of Nowruz; the arrival of spring and new year in Kurdish culture. The lighting of the fires at the beginning of the evening of March 20 is the main symbol of Newroz among the Kurds. In Zoroastrianism, fire i ...

'', the ancient national new year ceremony of

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

. Mem eventually dies in the end as the result of a complicated conspiracy by Bakr. When Zin receives the news, she mourns Mem's death on his grave. The immense grief leads to her death and she is buried next to Mem. The news of the death of Mem and Zin spreads quickly among the people of

Jazira Buhtan Bohtan was a medieval Kurds, Kurdish Kurdish emirates, principality in the Ottoman Empire centered on the town of Cizre, Jazirah ibn 'Omar in southeastern Anatolia. The official religion of this principality was Yazidism, Yezidism in 14th centu ...

. Then Bakr's role in the tragedy is revealed, and he takes sanctuary between the two graves. He is eventually captured and slain by the people of Jazira. A thorn bush soon grows out of Bakr’s blood, sending its roots of malice deep into the earth between the lovers’ graves, separating the two even after their death.

Media

Nasir Hassan, the director of the successful drama said, "Memi Alan" is the most substantial and the most sophisticated artistic work ever done in

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

. With a crew of more than 1000 people and 250

actors An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Kurdish People

For ''Kurds'', Mem and Zin are symbols of the

Kurdish people Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

and the

country, which are separated and cannot come together. The Mem u Zin museum in

Cizre Cizre () is a city in the Cizre District of Şırnak Province in Turkey. It is located on the river Tigris by the Syria–Turkey border and close to the Iraq–Turkey border. Cizre is in the historical region of Upper Mesopotamia and the cultura ...

province has become a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

attraction. The movie Mem u Zin was produced in 1991 in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It was not allowed to play the story in the

Kurdish language Kurdish (, , ) is a Northwestern Iranian languages, Northwestern Iranian language or dialect continuum, group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in southeast Turkish Kurdistan, Turkey, northern Iraqi Kurdistan, Ira ...

. Mem û Zîn also emphasizes the national aspirations of the

References

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External links

* http://northerniraq.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1166 * Mem and Zin * https://archive.today/20130127155125/http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=3110 Kurdish-language mass media 2002 television films 2002 films Films based on romance novels Kurdish-language television