My time with filmmaker Yilmaz Güney from our first meeting in Turkey in 1980 (after the military coup) until his death in Paris in 1984.

The book tells the story of Edi Hubschmid’s collaboration on the films SÜRÜ, DÜSMAN and YOL, of how they organized Güney’s escape from prison in Turkey, and of their joint work in completing YOL for the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, where the film received the Palme D’Or.

The book is designed as a photo narrative and gives the reader an insight into the questions and concerns of an artist in exile. It tells of the adventure-filled production of the film, which was made possible through an extraordinary constellation of events, including help from a wide variety of politically and culturally committed people. It is also the story of a friendship between two men from different cultures in pursuit of a common goal.

“Thank you as a Kurd, what you have done for Yılmaz Güney has honored us.”
Mr. Tkin (Mr. Democrat), Kurdistan, 2020

“I have read your book about Yol and Yilmaz Guney in Kurdish, it was good and educational… and you done great for Yilmaz. I congratulate you. Have good
time and thank you.”
“I have written to my friends, that I had read a nice book, that it is Edi Hubschmid is the author. Edi is the man who helped Yilmaz leave Turkey. When
you read this book, you know Yilmaz and what Edi had done and what he had sacrificed for him. That’s one of nicest book I had read. You can get from
amazon. warm regards… Sileman”
Sileman Demir, Januar 2020, Türkei

“I finally managed to read your book, it is a great book, one of the best ones that I have read about Guney’s last years.”
Karzan S Kardozi, Filmhistorker, USA/Kurdistan, 8.8.2017

Hubschmid tells a complex story with great clarity, weaving together several narratives reminiscent of the parallel editing style of Güney’s masterpiece, Yol. Güney’s life was dramatic, with heart-stopping moments of danger, courage and other moments of professional, political and personal disappointment, sadness, rivalry, and anger. Many who were close to Yilmaz (or who wanted to be) have been unable to resist the temptation to further romanticise and dramatize his story, and to embellish the facts with myth. History will always be interpreted and reinterpreted, but in this beautifully written (and superbly translated) book, the life, films, and politics of this great political filmmaker resonate with honesty and sincerity.
Associate Professor Jane Mills, PhD, University of New South Wales, Australia, 2020