Feature Films

HALF MOON

Director: Bahman Ghobadir
Cast: Ismail Ghaffari, Allah Morad Rashtiani, Farzin Sabooni, Kambiz Arshi, Sadiq Behzadpoor, Ali Ashraf Rezai, Reza Haj Khosravi, Mohamad Nahid, Bahram Zarei Hedieh Tehrani, Golshifteh Farahani, Hassan Poorshirazi. South Kurdistan (Iraq)-Iran-Austria 2006 / 114m / Kurdish with English subtitles / 15

Saddam has fallen and Mamo, a renowned Kurdish musician, begins a journey to Iraq with his sons to perform a concert. An old friend drives the minibus that picks up Mamo's sons one by one. Although one son tells of the dire predictions of his village elders if the journey continues, Mamo is determined to carry on. Borders are crossed, difficulties are faced and the journey becomes both an adventure and an exploration. This outstanding new film from Bahman Ghobadi (TURTLES CAN FLY) won the top prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival together with awards for writing and photography.

KILOMETRE ZERO

Director: Hiner Saleem
Cast: Nazmi Kirik, Belçim Bilgin, Eyam Ekrem, Ehmed Qeladizeyi, Nezar Selami. France-South Kurdistan (Iraq) 2005 / 96m / Kurdish with English subtitles / 15

Iraq 1988. Young husband and father Ako is forced to join Saddam Hussein’s army. The unwilling soldier dreams of fleeing the country, but his wife Selma refuses to leave while her old bedridden father is still alive. Ako is sent away to the frontline of the Iran-Iraq War, where he experiences not only the reality of war but, because of his Kurdish background, also abuse from all sides. Desperation calls for desperate measures.

EXORCISM

Writer/Director: Made Omed
Cast: Tariq Akreyi, Omar Chawsheen, Hawjin Sardar, Haval Hamajwan. Produced by Cultural Ministry in Arbil (Cinema Section) South Kurdistan (Iraq) 1993 / 80m / Kurdish with English subtitles / 15

In 1991, Saddam launched a major attack on the Kurdish cities in response to the Kurdish uprising. Thousands of Kurds fled to the mountains and the borders in fear of another chemical attack. This was the last major battle between Saddam's regime and the Kurds. The film focuses on an elderly man, Qudret Agha, who loses his daughter, Maryam, in the flight and enlists the help of a young man, Jwamer to find her. Jwamer extracts a promise from Qudret Agha, that if they if find Maryam, he will claim her as his wife. After a long search, they find Maryam in one of the refugee camps, by which time she already has a lover. She refuses to marry Jwamer, and that's when the trouble starts.

FRATRICIDE

Director: Yilmaz Arslan
Cast: Valentina Christova-Katina, Jean-Luc Ristic, Cécile Navarro, Mai Seck, Yusuf Geçtan. Germany 2005 / 96m / German, Kurdish and Turkish with English subtitles / 15

Ibo and Azad, two young Kurdish refugees recently arrived in Germany, quickly experience the harshness of their new life. Their encounter with a gang of Turks leads them inevitably into a tragic spiral of death and revenge. FRATRICIDE is an explosive tale of desperate conflict and bloody revenge, a savage, furious, and heartbreaking portrait of raw humanity struggling for safety, for dignity, for survival in the face of violence, exile and the brutal indifference of a society that simply ignores them.