14/11/2009
The Sixth London Kurdish Film Festival: 20Th November - 30th November 2009
With 6 venues, 127 films, Cannes 09 prize winners look set to take the Sixth London Kurdish Film Festival to new heights
For the first time the London Kurdish Film Festival takes place in six venues across London: RichMix, Amnesty International's Human Rights Action Centre, the Riverside Studios, Shortwave Cinema, the Birkbeck College Cinema and Spring Studios. The 11 day Festival runs from November 20th to 30th.
The Festival presents an extraordinary variety of films made by Kurdish filmmakers or about Kurdish issues: features, documentaries, shorts and animations, from all over the world, but the majority from Kurdistan itself. 127 films will be shown over the festival’s 11 days screening programme.
The festival promises to be packed with exciting, challenging and occasionally controversial movies. There will also be discussions with film makers and other invited guests.
Highlights include:
Miraz Bezar’s MIN DÎT (Children of Diyarbakir) which has won several awards and will be screened as festival’s opening gala film; renowned Paris-based Kurdish director Hiner Saleem's AFTER THE DOWNFALL featuring celebrating Kurds in a house in Berlin after the collapse of Saddam’s regime;
Shahram Alidi’s WHISPER WITH THE WIND, which won 3 awards at Cannes 09;
NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS, Bahman Ghobadi’s latest feature film shot underground in just 17 days which won several awards at Cannes 09;
Hisen Hasan’s latest feature HERMAN.
STARS ARE HUELESS BY DAY and ZARA, are respectively by Shirin Cihani and Ayten Mutlu, two Kurdish female directors presenting their first feature films to the UK audiences.
French director Philippe Lioret’s powerful movie WELCOME, which provoked such anger from French Government for its realistic and critical approach to France’s immigration policy.
While Kazim Oz’s latest feature STORM will be at the festival for it’s UK premier; and Ravin Asaf’s THE SMELL OF APPLESS remembers the genocide carried out against the Kurds of Halabja in 1988.
The Netherlands-based Kurdish director Ibo Kurdo’s latest release HOPE (OMED) is featured while Norway-based young Kurdish director Hisham Zaman's brand new short film THE OTHER ONES will be screened with British Director Tony Grisoni’s Bafta nominated short KINGSLANG.
The festival also includes many award winning short films and a wide range of fascinating and powerful documentaries including AMERICAN HERRO by Kirk Roos featuring the life of Herro Mustafa, Senior Advisor for Middle East and South Asia, to the Office of United States Vice President Joe Biden. Herro Mustafa, who left Kurdistan at the age of 3 with her family, will be attending the festival.
Berlin based Kurdish director Yüksel Yavuz also attends the festival with his latest work CLOSE UP KURDISTAN, a groundbreaking documentary giving western audiences an invaluable perspective.
Also showing in the festival’s documentary programme is KURDI by Peri Ibrahim and Doug Aubrey, recently nominated for a Scottish BAFTA award and multi-award winner ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL, which is a documentary jointly, made by Kurdish and Turkish directors revealing the impact of the Turkey’s assimilation policies upon Kurdish schoolchildren. PRISON NUMBER 5 is a powerful documentary shedding light on a period of atrocities imposed on Kurdish political prisoners during the 1980s, through the testimonies of inmates during that time.
Apart from a delegation of filmmakers and officials from South Kurdistan (Iraq) directors and actors like Hiner Saleem, Bahman Ghobadi, Kazim Öz, Shirin Cihani, Ayten Mutlu, Miraz Bezar, Çayan Demirel, Philippe Lioret, Yüksel Yavuz, Hisham Zaman, Nazmi Kirik, Havin Funda Saç, Firat Ayverdi, Beri Shalmashi, Binevsa Berivan, Azad Kerkuki, Shawkat Amin Korki, Peri Ibrahim, Doug Aubrey, Kirk Roos, Ibrahim Selman, Havi Ibrahim, Stuart Palmer and many others have been invited to attend the festival
We also feature our second Yilmaz Güney short film competition, named in honour of the great Kurdish director who died in exile in Paris after escaping persecution by the Turkish state.
Website www.lkff.co.uk
For more details:
Mustafa Gündogdu at +44 (0)7876 71025
0 or mustafa.gundogdu@gmail.com
Ata Mufty at +44 (0)7956 4922
52 or atamufty@yahoo.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
The festival is supported by the Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Culture and Youth, the Aso / Xandan Newspaper, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s UK Representation, Levenes Solicitors, Lebara Mobile, B Plan, Dr. Salah Al- Shaikly (Chairman of the British–Iraqi Friendship Society), Ms. Jenny Hall, Ethnic Minority Foundation, Kani Travel, Mufid & Co Accountants, Donya Restaurant, Cybotex, the Z Café Bar and Print Gallery, Stoke Newington.
Venue Details in full:
Richmix : 35 - 47 Bethnal Green Road , E1 6LA www.richmix.org.uk
Amnesty International Human Rights Action Centre: 17-25 New Inn Yard, EC2A 3EA www.amnesty.org.uk
Birkbeck College Cinema: 43 Gordon Square, Camden, WC1H 0PD
Riverside Studios: Crisp Rd, Hammersmith, London, W6 9RL www.riversidestudios.co.uk
Shortwave Cinema: 10 Bermondsey Square, SE1 3UN www.shortwavefilms.co.uk
Spring Studios: 10 Spring Place, Kentish Town, NW5 3BH www.springstudios.com
