Why isn't Hollywood coming to Kurdistan?

As is often the case with war and political upheaval in troubled zones involving the West in one way or another, Hollywood is quick to explore commercially oriented filming possibilities in Iraq and Syria.

A slew of film projects in connection with Islamic State (ISIS), the Yezidi genocide, the Peshmerga and the Shervans (Kurdish women fighters), and coalition partners are slated for upcoming production. 

Such films are often made with budgets from $25 million to $200 million — a sizable portion of which will be spent in host countries. Will Kurdistan be able to compete with others to host such productions? And what will it take to bring Hollywood to our backyard?

Between IMDb (International Movie Database) listings, Variety and Hollywood Reporter columns, and the insider connections I have accumulated in my years of living in Los Angeles, I was able to collect a larger-than-anticipated list of 24 titles relating to Kurdistan, presently in their conceptual, development, or pre-production stages.

They range from mini studio actioners, to mid-budget war movies, to high-concept blockbusters by major film studios. Though all those with subject matter focusing on the war with ISIS are fictional, most are based on true events or on-the-ground figures. 

Major studio titles in the pipeline include Warner Brothers’ ‘Blackwater’, ‘It’s What I Do’, ‘Nubs’, and Johnny Depp-driven ‘Fierce Invalids’; Amazon Studios’ ‘Soldier Boys’; HBO’s ‘Taking Chance’; Lionsgate’s ‘Code of Honor’, Sony Pictures’ Journal for Jordan starring Denzel Washington, and Paramount Studio’s Stephen Spielberg blockbuster ‘A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea.’

Other titles include ‘The Swimmers’ (about teenage Olympian refugee Yusra Mardini who saved many lives in the Aegean Sea), ‘Lioness’ (the story of Lance Corporal Leslie Martz, a U.S. Marine stationed in Haditha, Iraq), Jackie Chan’s ‘Project X’, George Clooney’s ‘White Helmets’, ‘The Anarchist Vs. ISIS’, and many more.

Assume that of the aforementioned Hollywood films an equal number will be popping out of Europe as well. It is an easier process for Europeans, who are closer to the Region, use smaller budgets, and, like independent US filmmakers, are free from the constraints of guilds and unions.

Case in point — ‘The Milan Protocol’, by German director Peter Ott, was shot in Kurdistan. Other European productions include ‘Girls of the Sun’ by Eva Husson, presently making the festival rounds, and ‘Sisters of Arms’ by Caroline Fourest, opening this October — both from France, both about the Shervans of Rojava and both helmed by female directors.

Here I will humbly insert my own, all-female casting for an ISIS-related film. ‘Daughters of the Peacock Angel’, now in development, is about the fate of female Yezidi survivors and the missing, for which I’m in discussions with Hollywood elements and aiming for a couple of visible talents, namely Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) and Salma Hayek (Frida). ‘Daughters’ will be my second US-Kurdistan co-production, the first being ‘Chaplin of the Mountains’.

To date, all Hollywood films about Iraq have been made elsewhere. Arizona’s Casa Grande was the substitute for the Iraqi desert in George Clooney’s ‘Three Kings’; Amman, Jordan mimicked Baghdad in ‘The Hurt Locker’; ‘Green Zone’ filming began in Los Alcazares Airbase in Spain and finished in Morocco; and ‘The Anarchist vs. ISIS’ is set to be lensed in the country of Georgia.

I have been championing the establishment of a local film commission office to lure Hollywood to shoot these films here. Without one, these productions, like their predecessors, can and will be filmed elsewhere. We will not only miss out on the financial reward of these big budget films, but the films may end up misrepresenting on-the-ground realities, depending on who serves on their advisory boards.

In addition to financials, mainstream films will help boost tourism in the Region. The films will also be beneficial for local youth, who can partake as actors in small roles and as crew members, which in itself is worth years of college. 

Most importantly, the commission office will also serve as advisor on areas concerning location, presentation, dialogue, wardrobe, and other characteristics peculiar to the region, which will ensure that facts are depicted correctly.

I have discussed with numerous studio vice presidents and location managers the prospect of Kurdistan becoming a new Hollywood playground. Their replies unanimously have been that the Kurdistan Regional Government must establish a film commission office and the commission office needs to facilitate a standard international co-production treaty with the United States and/or the state of California — the film mecca in America. 

There exist only four film commissions in the Middle East: in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Israel, and Jordan. As a demonstration of just how important such an enterprise is, Prince Ali Bin Hussein of Jordan presides over the board of the Royal Film Commission of his country. All four commissions have been hosting mega-budgeted Hollywood films, including ‘Star Wars’, ‘Star Trek’, and the James Bond sequels.

While the new KRG administration is prioritizing initiatives of progression, it is of utmost importance that due attention is given to this sector. If there is concern about how we will be depicted in Hollywood’s crop of ISIS-related films, and if there is an agenda to empower homegrown cinema, a film commission is the first step in the right direction. With Hollywood studios now location-scouting for their new productions, time is of the essence for initiative to be taken; tomorrow may already be too late.