BENEATH THE ROOFTOPS OF PARIS

Director: Hiner Saleem
Cast: Michel Piccoli, Mylene Demongeot, Maurice Benichou, Marie Kremer, Birol Unel.

France 2007 / 98m / French with English subtitles / 12A

As autumn arrives, Marcel (Michel Piccoli) becomes more unsteady, his legs wracked with pain and his speech difficult. Amar has left, and the cafe has closed down. Marcel's bourgeois son Vincent (Vincent Tepernowski) has little time for, or interest in, his dad, and only fellow resident Julie (Marie Kremer), a voluptuous young woman in trouble with the landlord (Serge Chambon), takes an interest. But even she doesn't last, and Marcel's physical decline is hastened by winter's arrival. Hiner Saleem is a Kurd who casts a poetic, tender and scathing eye on life in the comfortable West. For him, even misery and death feed the desire to live.

AND THUS I WAS BORN

Director: Soran Mardookhi
Cast: Asadollah Rahimi, Zaniyar Mardookhi, Sattar Chamanigol, Payman Menbari, Bahareh Gorji, Shabab Naseri.

East Kurdistan (Iran) 2006 / 75m / Kurdish (Sorani) with English subtitles / PG

Set and filmed in the mountainous province of Kurdistan, located in the western part of modern Iran, this feature film by young Kurdish director Mardookhi tells the story of a group of individuals who struggle against difficulties and hardships in order to achieve their goals. As they travel through the region their stories and journeys unfold.

A VEHICLE TICKET

Director : Masoud Arif & Ako Aziz Mezra
Cast: Mohammed A. Atrushi, Adel Hasan, Kajal Abdulla, Aland Hazim, Rekesh Shahbaz, Dawan Nawzad, Salih Arif, Asmat Izat, Nawzad Majeed, Akhtar Kareem, Deelan Sardar, Nareen M. Faris, Zenat Nawzad.

South Kurdistan (Iraq) 2007 / 52m / Kurdish (Kurmanji) with English subtitles / 12A

Religion is bounded by human beliefs, but what determines whether a human being decides to believe or not? Without doubt this is when man understands life and understand himself. From childhood, these are ingrained in our minds: sin, hell, heaven, God, the will of our soul... In this film nature asks for a liberated and free soul. From childhood, man wants to see heaven, meet God and ask him some questions. Because his soul and eyes are frightened, he looks to a mirror for help! Maybe we see God and heaven in the mirrorS a big MAYBE...

WINTERLAND

Director: Hisham Zaman
Cast Raouf Sarag, Shler Rahnoma, Kawa Gilli, Alibag Salimi

Norway 2007 / 52m / Kurdish (Sorani), Norwegian with English subtitles /

Renas is a well-adjusted Kurdish refugee who lives in a remote spot in Northern Norway. He has everything he wants, except a wife. Using a stand-in bridegroom in Iraq, he marries a woman, Fermesk. But the marriage has a difficult start when she arrives in Norway. Neither her husband nor the country appear the way she had imagined. And is it possible for Renas to love a woman he has only seen in a photo?