Overview
The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known literary work in the world. Written in Mesopotamia more than five thousand years ago, it describes the journey of Gilga-mesh, the ruler of one of the first historical metropolises, Uruk. Following the death of Gilgamesh’s best friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh embarks on a quest for immortality to avoid the same fate. Part god and part human, Gilgamesh encounters a varied cast of characters, from the Goddess Ishtar and the scorpion people, to Utnapishtim, who, like Noah, saved humanity from the Great Flood by building an arc. Filmed on the banks of the Tigris River near the ancient cities of Mardin, Hasankeyf, and Dara, Anton Vidokle and Pelin Tan’s Gilgamesh: She Who Saw the Deep (2021) retells the story of Gilgamesh as a journey through time and space inspired by Sumerian cosmology and the philosophy of Russian cosmism. Featuring an all-woman cast of actors from the Amed Theater in Diyarbakır and accompanied by an original score by Alva Noto, Notes for a film about Gilgamesh is a meditation on questions of living, death, friendship, love, and immortality.
