Since the rise of Daesh (Islamic State), global perceptions of the Kurdish people have shifted dramatically. Long marginalized and subjected to decades of repression, Kurdish communities suddenly came into focus as a pivotal force in the fight against IS terror — represented by a complex and often fragmented network of political movements and armed groups.

During the war, Western media increasingly reported on the growing strike power of Kurdish forces and their strategic successes on the battlefield. The Peshmerga, the official military of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, received international support from countries including the United States, Russia, Germany, and the European Union. Yet it was the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — long designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU, and the U.S. — that emerged as a central, if controversial, actor in the fight against Daesh and in the broader Rojava conflict.

The PKK’s ideological influence extends through sister parties and affiliated combat units, including the YPG and YPJ militias in Syria, as well as guerrilla formations shaped by both the HDP’s democratic vision (Halkların Demokratik Partisi) and the PKK’s militant origins. 

The documentary project Das Leben ist für uns. offers an intimate look into the lives and convictions of PKK members — individuals often reduced in Western discourse to insurgents, yet deeply committed to a radical political project. In early 2016, Hübner traveled to Erbil, the administrative center of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, visited the frontline near Kirkuk, and spent several weeks in Makhmur Camp, a long-standing PKK stronghold.

Through portraits, observations, and extended interviews, he explored layers of ideology, the pressures of war, and the meaning of belonging within a stateless struggle. Rather than focusing on themes dominant in media coverage at the time — military capacity, battlefield victories, the visibility of female fighters, or Western support — the project turns its attention to aspects of PKK ideology that remained largely absent from public debate.



Softcover
220-pages, 71 colour pictures
Language: German
Released: July 2016

Self-Published (out of stock)

Since the rise of Daesh (Islamic State) in 2013, global perceptions of the Kurdish forces engaged in resistance have shifted dramatically. Long marginalized and subjected to decades of repression, Kurdish communities suddenly came into focus as a pivotal force in the fight against IS terror — represented by a complex and often fragmented network of political movements and armed groups.

During the war, Western media increasingly reported on the growing strike power of Kurdish forces and their strategic successes on the battlefield. The Peshmerga, the official military of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, received international support from countries including the United States, Russia, Germany, and the European Union. Yet it was the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — long designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU, and the U.S. — that emerged as a central, if controversial, actor in the fight against Daesh and in the broader Rojava conflict.