ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish film No Paradise if Killed by a Woman made its world premiere on Monday at the 83rd edition of the Venice International Film Festival as Iraq’s official nominee for the Oscars.
The film’s synopsis follows a female Peshmerga sniper who secretly enters ISIS territory in Mosul to rescue her younger sister and highlights the role and sacrifices of Kurdish women during the war against ISIS.
The film, directed by Halkawt Mustafa, is Iraq's official entry for the Oscars this year in the Best International Feature Film category entry for the 99th Academy Awards set for March 2027.
“I believe this production will be one of the 10 most impactful films released anywhere in the world this year,” Mustafa told Rudaw’s Payam Sarbast, adding that audiences around the world were awaiting the film.
The cast, director, and team walked the red carpet in Venice, with several members donning Kurdish traditional clothing as the song Rumati Wek Guli Begerd (Her face like a pure flower) by Kizhan Ibrahim Khayat played over the speakers during the ceremony.
Filmmakers and guests attended the film’s world premiere in the Sala Grande, the festival’s main screening hall.
The film’s reception in Venice, the oldest and the most prominent festival second only to Cannes, brings the story of Kurdish fighters and women in the war against ISIS to one of the world’s most established international film stages.
Rezan Hama Salih, the Kurdistan Regional Government representative in Italy, said the film was years in the making and “will resonate for years to come.”
“It is very important to us,” she said, describing the premiere as a “historic day for the Kurdish nation.”
“I hope it makes it to the Oscars.”
Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera also lauded the production, saying, “We were impressed by the film. We did not expect such a strong and spectacular movie about this war, and about the role that Peshmerga and the Kurdish people played against ISIS.”
“I think it is very extremely important to show this film, to support the film,” he said.
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival will continue in Venice until Saturday.
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