Bircan Birol: Within the Fragments of Gurbet (2025) 

Bircan Birol was commissioned to produce a new film, exploring the journeys of fellow migrants and refugees as they map their own version of Glasgow. For this project Bircan collaborated with Fatou Cham Gitteh, Shakya Sheresinge and Siraj Balubaid. 

An immigrant filmmaker, stirred by the unexpected visit of gurbet, the feeling of being far from home, sets out to trace its path. Within the Fragments of Gurbet brings together the journeys of fellow migrants and refugees as they map their own version of Glasgow through places of loss, connection, and belonging, seeking to make sense of home within a new place, and the fragments of what it once was. The film screening at CCA was followed by a conversation between the artist and Siraj Balubaid. 

Bircan Birol is a Glasgow-based documentary filmmaker. Her work explores themes of belonging, resilience, resistance, social impact, and participatory filmmaking. Her short films have been screened in theatres and at festivals internationally, and she is currently making her first feature-length documentary. 

Commissioned by Scottish Refugee Council for Refugee Festival Scotland 2025

Supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland 

Presented at CCA (Glasgow)  

“Every corner of this city has a different story depending on who’s standing there. If we look at Glasgow through that lens, maybe we can better understand how migrants like me carve out pockets of comfort, moments that feels like home in a place that is still unfamiliar.” Bircan Birol

Image credit: Bircan Birol, Within the Fragments of Gurbet (2025). Still from film