SIFF artistic director laments decline in Kurdish cinema
SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The quantity and quality of Kurdish submissions to this year’s Slemani International Film Festival are both down, said the festival’s artistic director, worried about what this means for the fledgling industry.
"Last year the number was more, not all were in the competitions but there were more screenings of Kurdish films. We kind of had to squeeze the submissions this year to get the best out of them,” said Danar Omer.
The Kurdish films submitted last year were generally of higher quality than those they saw this year, he added.
The festival brought award-winning international films and nearly 100 industry insiders to promote cinema in Kurdistan.
"We are bringing all of the best films from around the world, ones that won awards in Venice and Cannes, to push the Kurdish filmmakers to create more films and to be on that level because that's what we need," Omer explained.
The 2017 edition of the festival took place as dramatic events unfolded – the independence referendum, the Baghdad-imposed international flight ban, and the federal takeover of the disputed areas like Kirkuk.
Asked if these events had any effect on the film industry, Omer said the decline of Kurdish cinema had actually been taking place for a few years.
"We don't think the events of last year was the reason for the amount of Kurdish films decreasing," he said. "It's that cinema has been going down here."
He was surprised that no filmmakers had submitted projects based on the events of October 16 when Iraqi forces rolled into Kirkuk.
"You should always have a story to make a film about," he said. "These stories, these events that happened, are actually a main theme in every film industry."
"The unfortunate thing is that we [as Kurds] don't learn from this and we don't use these great stories. Most of them would have been sad stories, however it would have been a good story to make a film about," Omer continued. "But we didn't learn from that and actually are not doing anything about it, which is very unfortunate."
Despite his concerns about Kurdish cinema, the festival has been a success so far, and Omer is hopeful that local filmmakers will be inspired to work harder to create more and better films.
"Cinema is a bigger issue itself. It's the most important thing. It doesn't just stay with the film festival. It's so much bigger than that."
The festival runs through October 16. Although 170 films with connections to more than 120 countries will be screened over the six-day-long event, there are only 13 Kurdish short films and 21 Kurdish documentaries being screened. No Kurdish feature films were submitted for screening.
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"Last year the number was more, not all were in the competitions but there were more screenings of Kurdish films. We kind of had to squeeze the submissions this year to get the best out of them,” said Danar Omer.
The Kurdish films submitted last year were generally of higher quality than those they saw this year, he added.
The festival brought award-winning international films and nearly 100 industry insiders to promote cinema in Kurdistan.
"We are bringing all of the best films from around the world, ones that won awards in Venice and Cannes, to push the Kurdish filmmakers to create more films and to be on that level because that's what we need," Omer explained.
The 2017 edition of the festival took place as dramatic events unfolded – the independence referendum, the Baghdad-imposed international flight ban, and the federal takeover of the disputed areas like Kirkuk.
Asked if these events had any effect on the film industry, Omer said the decline of Kurdish cinema had actually been taking place for a few years.
"We don't think the events of last year was the reason for the amount of Kurdish films decreasing," he said. "It's that cinema has been going down here."
He was surprised that no filmmakers had submitted projects based on the events of October 16 when Iraqi forces rolled into Kirkuk.
"You should always have a story to make a film about," he said. "These stories, these events that happened, are actually a main theme in every film industry."
"The unfortunate thing is that we [as Kurds] don't learn from this and we don't use these great stories. Most of them would have been sad stories, however it would have been a good story to make a film about," Omer continued. "But we didn't learn from that and actually are not doing anything about it, which is very unfortunate."
Despite his concerns about Kurdish cinema, the festival has been a success so far, and Omer is hopeful that local filmmakers will be inspired to work harder to create more and better films.
"Cinema is a bigger issue itself. It's the most important thing. It doesn't just stay with the film festival. It's so much bigger than that."
The festival runs through October 16. Although 170 films with connections to more than 120 countries will be screened over the six-day-long event, there are only 13 Kurdish short films and 21 Kurdish documentaries being screened. No Kurdish feature films were submitted for screening.
Rudaw is a media sponsor.