Filmmaker and author Bedri Bet Hurmuz on tour in Australia to promote book of Assyrian folk tales and raise awareness of power of storytelling

AUSTRALIA — Documentary filmmaker and writer Bedri Bet Hurmuz (40), hails from Mehre, a remote Chaldean mountain village in the Bothan region of southeastern Turkey. Growing up in a village with little access to radio or television, Bedri was immersed in the oral storytelling tradition, gathering with his family around the evening fire to hear fairy tales and folk stories, particularly those recounted by his grandmother.

After completing his fine arts studies in Istanbul in 2004, Bedri committed himself to preserving his Assyrian culture and language. His dedication to Assyrian oral tradition culminated in his 2023 book, Assyrian Fairy Tales, a bilingual collection of illustrated folk tales.

Originally published in Turkish-Sureth, Assyrian Fairy Tales is now also available in Eastern Sureth, Western Sureth (Syriac), Turkish, French, and English. Bedri collaborated with Dr. Nicholas al-Jeloo and a distinguished Syriac teacher from Tur Abdin to edit the Eastern and Western Sureth translations.

To promote the English edition of his book, Bedri, whose Turkish surname is Diril, is currently touring Australia, a country with a significant population of Syriacs (Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans).

In an interview with SBS Assyrian Radio, Bedri emphasized the importance of preserving the art of storytelling. The idea for his collection took root in 2017 while he was working on his documentary Migrants and Remnants: Assyrians of Tur Abdin. Hearing unfamiliar local folk tales during his research, he became deeply aware of the power of heritage and language, inspiring him to embark on a new project to collect Assyrian fairy tales and folk stories.

With financial support from the Assyrian Foundation of America and the Assyrian Studies Association, Bedri traveled extensively, interviewing members of the Assyrian diaspora in France, Belgium, the United States, Canada, and Australia. Over the course of his journey, he collected more than 20 fairy tales, 14 of which were selected and included in the book.

Assyrian Fairy Tales is a testament to Bedri Bet Hurmuz’s commitment to preserving and sharing his community’s rich oral storytelling tradition with a global audience.