5th Sulaimani International Film Festival begins Friday

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - The 5th Sulaimani International Film Festival begins on Friday, bringing together local and international actors and directors.

The festival aims to grow the Kurdish film industry and improve the level of filmmaking in the Region. It also aims to attract international filmmakers, producers, and film production companies. 

Organizers of the annual festival began planning the event six months in advance. The event will take place in Sulaimani’s Talary Hunar [Art Palace] from December 17 to 23.

In the course of the one-week festival, 142 films of different categories and from 33 countries will be screened.

“Films from all categories are included. These include long films, short films, animated films, and documentaries. We have a category for youths. We’ve created a category called "Kurdish View," which presents short Kurdish movies for the younger generation,” Lanya Raza, program manager of the festival told Rudaw’s Horvan Rafaat on Wednesday.

Raza also added that “Over half of our guests will be from outside the Kurdistan Region, coming from all over the world. Nearly 35 countries will take part in the festival.”

The festival is intended to introduce Kurdish cinema and screen international films for cinephiles. 

Harde Samir is the director of a Kurdish short film called “A Hallway.” The short film is inspired by a true story of two brothers who were taken hostage by the former Iraqi Baathist regime in the 1980s.

As the regime decides to release one of them and execute the other, the mother has to decide who is going to be freed.

Hoping his first-ever short film will catch the attention of the festival-goers, Harde aims to tell the younger generation about the hardships the Kurds suffered under the rule of the former Iraqi regime. “I would like the Kurdish people to see this story so they know how our history was,” said Samir on Wednesday.

During the festival, a total of 116 movies will enter a competition to win awards by the festival organizers.

In addition to the 57 Kurdish films that will be screened at the festival, a number of panels, workshops, and seminars will also be held by international and local actors and directors, aiming to improve the quality of Kurdish cinema.

Rudaw Media Network is the festival's media sponsor.

Despite being an annual festival, it was not held last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The 4th Sulaimani International Film Festival was held in September of 2019.

In a similar event, the 8th Duhok International Film Festival kicked off in November, bringing local and international films to the Kurdistan Region. 

Additional reporting by Horvan Rafaat