For the queer Kurd, these two blues collide. They live in a world where their love is as taboo as their language. They look to Emma’s hair for the courage to be visible, and to the YPJ’s flag for the courage to exist.
However, the globalized media landscape has flipped this script. You will now find Nivîsên Şîn (Blue Writings) on social media, where young Kurds use blue text to signal their connection to the Rojava revolution. More intimately, queer Kurds have adopted the color to signify a double liberation: freedom from ISIS (through the blue of the YPJ) and freedom from the closet (through the blue of La Vie d’Adèle ). blue is the warmest color kurd
What do they discuss after the screening? They discuss the absence of their own narrative in global queer cinema. They note that Emma is an artist, but there is no Kurdish artist in the film. They note that Adèle suffers, but she never suffers statelessness . And yet, they hold onto the film because it gave them a language—a chromatic language—to explain their pain. For the queer Kurd, these two blues collide
– Unlike many LGBTQ+ films focused solely on coming out, Kechiche highlights how Adèle (from a working-class background, becomes a teacher) and Emma (bourgeois, becomes an artist) cannot bridge their different worlds, even after years of love. However, the globalized media landscape has flipped this
The existence of the search term "blue is the warmest color kurd" is a testament to the digital Kurdish renaissance. The Kurdish language, having faced historical suppression in several nations, is currently undergoing a massive revival in the digital sphere. Online communities work tirelessly to translate global content—from Hollywood blockbusters to Korean dramas and European arthouse films—into Sorani, Kurmanji, and other dialects.
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