10th Duhok Film Fest Jury President Emin Alper Introduced Along with Competition Categories Jurors

Memoriam of Yılmaz Güney, the 1982 Palme d’or winner in Cannes in DuhokIFF

The jury members for the World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema competition categories of the 10th edition of Duhok International Film Festival have been introduced, with filmmaker Emin Alper as the jury president of the international segment.

According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international cinema journalist, Massoud Arif, the official speaker for the 10th Duhok International Film Festival, has stated, “This round of the festival heralds the motto of ‘Kurdish Mother Tongue,’ with films screened in 16 different languages. The guests come from 34 countries to attend this cinematic event. The Kurdish Cinema category includes 50 films, the World Cinema, 66 films, and in total 116 titles will get screenings in this edition; which compared to the last year’s round, contains more entries. Twenty-six Kurdish films as well as thirty-one foreign ones and a total of fifty-seven titles have entered the competition category to vie for the prizes.”

Festival Films Screening at Youth Detention Center

The filmmaker stressed that the Duhok Mall Complex and Duhok University’s Congregation Hall will be hosting the festival. “This year, the titles for Kurdish Cinema will get screened at youth detention center, under the supervision of the Kurdish actor, Adil Abdolrahman, so as to encourage the culture of watching films and getting to know them,” said Arif.

Selection Committee Members of Kurdish Cinema and World Cinema Categories

Shawkat Amin Korki, the artistic director of Duhok International Film Festival, said, “The Kurdish Cinema selection committee include the filmmaker Masoud Arif, the filmmaker and actor Hussein Hassan, the critic Dr. Kowthar Jabbar, the filmmaker Cenan Yusufoğlu, producers Fuad Jalal and Shirzad Abdullah, and the members of the selection committee for World Cinema include the critic Sait Tarakcioglu, the editor Charlotte Bock, the journalist Yılmaz Özdil, the actor and producer Roj Hajo, and the screenwriter Fatma Parmaksiz.”

World Cinema Competition Jury Members

This Kurdish filmmaker commented on the members of the jury for the competition categories of World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema, “This year also features five competition categories and the entries to Duhok International Film Festival will be judged by the members of the jury. The members of the jury of the international cinema category are the following figures:

Emin Alper, filmmaker and screenwriter from Turkey as the jury president

Mahsa Mohebali, novelist and screenwriter from Iran

Nirmal Dhal, actor from India

Artur Zaborski, journalist from Poland

Chabname Zariab, Afghan screenwriter and filmmaker residing in France

Kurdish Cinema Competition Jury Members

He also said, “The members of the jury for the feature-length films in the Kurdish Cinema category are the following:

Camille Laemel, producer from France, as the jury president

Maryam Boubani, actress from Iran

Mahmoud Abu Abbas from Iraq

Nizamettin Ariç, Kurdish composer and singer residing in Germany

Elsa Rassbach, producer from the US

Members of the jury for documentaries competition

Shawkat Amin Korki continued his remarks by saying, “The jurors for documentaries competition are as follows:

Rodney Charles, actor and producer from England, as jury president

Anaïs Boelicke, artistic director from Germany

Rekesh Shahbaz, actor and filmmaker from Kurdistan Region

Members of the jury for shorts competition

The artistic director of Duhok Film International Festival added, “The jurors for the category of shorts competition are the following:

Carmen Gray, journalist from New Zealand, as jury president

Kamiran Betasi, filmmaker from Kurdistan Region

Süheyla Schwenk, filmmaker from Germany

FIPRESCI Jury Members

Shawkat Amin Korki stressed, “In the last couple of years, the International Federation of Film Critics has played an impactful role in Duhok International Film Festival, and this year three critics will be in charge of that task. Katharina Dockhorn from Germany, Aina Randrianatoandro from Madagaskar, and Sait Tarakcioglu from Kurdistani Turkey are the figures involved.”

Kudish Cinema Feature-Length Documentaries Competition

Ravand Zaid, the planning director of the Kurdish Cinema category in Duhok Film Festival, said that this year, seven films have been selected to compete for the Best Documentary Award which are the following titles:

Taste of Water by Ebrahim Saeedi from Iran

Hiding Saddam Hussein by Halkawt Mustafa from Norway and Kurdistan Region

Nisho’s Flute by Sedat Kira from Kurdistan Turkey

Daughters of the Sun by Reber Dosky from the Netherlands

Iraq’s Invisible Beauty by Sahim Omar Khalifa and Jurgen Buedts from Belgium , Kurdistan Region and France

RA (SPIRTUAL REALITY) by Devrim Tekinoğlu from Turkey

Dekan Cave Massacre by Nabaz Ahmed from Kurdistan Region.

Kurdish Cinema Shorts Competition

He added, “In the short films competition, twelve pieces have been selected to vie for the best prize which are as follows:

Nietzschean Suicide by Payam Kurdistani from Iran

Prohibited Grave by Hassan Hussen from Kurdistan Region

Thirty Years One Night by Mehmet İsmail Çeçen from Kurdistan Region

For Horam by Jalal Saedpanah from Kurdistan Iran

Triangle by Zhino Hadi Hasan from Kurdistan Region

Killing Bagheera by Muschirf Shekh Zeyn from Kurdistan Region

Things Unheard of by Ramazan Kılıç from Turkey

03.33 by Azad Sadeghi from Iran

The Shepherd by Sarhat Nariman Khamo from Kurdistan Region

Suitcase by Saman Hosseinpuor and Ako Zandkarimi from Kurdistan Iran

4 PM by Nevroz Shaban from Kurdistan Region

The Trivet by Abdurrahim Karabulut and Mahsun Celayir from Kurdistani Turkey

Kurdish Cinema Competition Films

The planning manager of Kurdish Cinema category reiterated, “In the feature-length category, seven films have been selected to enter the competition and vie for the awards. The following are the entries:

Transient Happiness by Sina Mohamed Ahmed from Kurdistan Region

Mother Elif by Kazim Öz and Semir Aslanyürek from Kurdistani Turkey

Baghdad Messi by Sahim Omar Khalifa from Belgium

Beyan by Amir Gholami from Kurdistan Iran

In the Blind Spot by Ayşe Pola from Germany

Rojbash by Ozkan Kucok from Turkey

Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story by Kordo Doski from the US, Sweden, and Kurdistan Region

World Cinema Motion Picture Competition

Saman Mustafa, the executive manager of Duhok International Film Festival, said, “This year, nine films have been selected to enter the World Cinema competition category; the following titles are the entries:

Between Revolutions by Vlad Petri from Romania

No End by Nader Saeivar from Iran

Rohbau by Tuna Kaptan from Albania and Germany

Elaha by Milena Aboyan from Germany

Sashenka by Alexander Zhovna from Ukraine

Excursion by Una Gunjak from Bosnia

Es Brennt by Erol Afşin from Germany

Bullets by Peter Pontikis from Sweden

Hanging Gardens by Ahmad Yasin from Iraq

World Cinema Feature-Length Documentaries Competition

“This year, ten films were selected for the documentary category of the festival, vying for the Best Documentary Award,” he added. The following titles are the entries:

Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano by Cyril Aris from Germany and Lebanon

Anxious in Beirut by Zakaria Jaber from Lebanon, Qatar, Spain, and Jordan

Eren by Maria Binder from Turkey

The Sky is Mine by Ayuob Naseri from Italy

Kaf Kaf by METİN DAĞ from Turkey

Anhell 69 by Theo Montoya from Columbia, Germany, and Romania

A Golden Life by Boubacar Sangare Benin from Burkina Faso and France

Blix Not Bombs by Greta Stocklassa from the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Germany

Translating Ulysses by Firat Yücel and Aylin Kuryel from the Netherlands and Turkey

My Worst Enemy by Mehran Tamadon from France and Switzerland

World Shorts Competition

The executive manager of Duhok International Film Festival concluded his words at the press conference by saying, “Twelve films have been selected to enter the short fiction category of the competition, vying for the Best Short Award. The following titles are the entries:

Please Hold the Line by Tan Ce Ding from Malaysia

Koyun by Benhür Bolhava from Turkey

Shoot by Hiua Aloji from Germany

Sarina by Julia Zimmerman from Kurdistan Region

Fair Play by Zoel Aeschbacher from Switzerland and France

AUXILIAIRE by Lucas Bacle from France

Typist by Nasim Forough from Iran

On Xerxes Throne by Evi Kalogiropoulou from Greece

Rutubet by Turan Haste from Turkey

Transit by BAQER AL-RUBAIE from Iraq

The Other End of the Street by KÁLMÁN NAGY from Austria and Hungary

FLUT UND EBBE by Janis Westphal from Germany.”

Presided by Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir and artistic management by the Kurdish director, Shawkat Amin Korki, the 10th round of Duhok International Film Festival is set to be held on 9-16 December, 2023, at Duhok University’s congregation hall and the Duhok Mall Cineplex in Duhok, Kurdistan Region. Heralding the motto of “Mother Tongue (Kurdish),” this edition of Duhok will showcase 116 films by directors of different geographical backgrounds, in a variety of formats such as feature films, shorts, and documentaries in the two categories of competition and out-of-competition.

Memoriam of Yılmaz Güney, the 1982 Palme d’or winner in Cannes

Duhok International Film Festival in memoriam of Yılmaz Güney, the 1982 Palme d’or winner in Cannes, is in an effort to bridge the gap between Kurdish directors and those from the rest of the world, facilitating cultural exchanges among the nations all around the world.