After five intense days, the second Kurdish Film Festival Düsseldorf came to an end on Sunday evening with a festive award ceremony at the Atelier Kino. A total of around 40 films were shown during the festival, numerous panel discussions with directors and filmmakers were organized, and two readings and panel discussions were held. The evening was moderated by Yılmaz Kaba, who summarized the diverse festival program.

Fuad Ömer: “A historic moment for Rojava”

Fuad Ömer, spokesperson for the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, then addressed the guests. He thanked the festival team for choosing Rojava as the thematic focus and reported on the Kurdish Unity Conference organized in Rojava on Saturday. “It was very significant that numerous representatives of Kurdish parties from South Kurdistan and North Kurdistan took part in the conference,” said Ömer. “Such a meeting is a unique event in Kurdish history – and the fact that it took place on Rojava soil once again underlines the central role that Rojava plays today.”

The jury and the short film awards

The five-member jury for the short film competition, consisting of Binevşa Berivan, Berfin Emektar, Ekrem Heydo, Hewraz Mohammed, and Yilmaz Al Mouhamed Ali, awarded four prizes to films from different parts of Kurdistan:

▪ Rojava: Rodi Osman for “After What”

▪ Bakur (Northern Kurdistan): Mahsun Taşkın for “Garan”

▪ Rojhilat: Mariam Samadi for “Salt Sellers”

▪ Bashur (South Kurdistan): Mohamed Sherwani for “I Will Wait”

Berfin Emektar, Ekrem Heydo, and Hewraz Mohammed spoke on behalf of the jury, emphasizing that “cinema is a form of remembrance. It brings to light what has been forgotten, lost, and hidden. Every scene is a trace and evokes a lost memory. Cinema is also a form of resistance—sometimes a single sentence, a silence, or a glance is enough to bring stories to life.”

The festival's special prizes

In addition to the jury prizes, four festival prizes were also awarded:

▪ Yılmaz Güney Prize: Binevşa Berivan for “The Virgin & Child”

▪ Jina Amini Prize: Maria Laura Vasquez for ‘Lêgerîn”

▪ Human Rights Prize: Ömer Biçer for ’Vartinîs”

▪ Halil Dağ Prize for Resistance in Cinema: Olmo Couto for ”Serêkaniyê”

Words of thanks from the festival team

In an emotional speech, Adil Demirci and Dilek Colak expressed their gratitude on behalf of the entire festival team: “After our first festival last year, which focused on the Yazidis, this year we turned our attention to Rojava. The fact that an important conference on unity in Rojava took place confirms once again that our decision to focus on this topic was the right one – not only artistically, but also socially and politically.

The large turnout at the screenings, the intense discussions, and the palpable interest in the debates show that there is a great need for this festival, for exchange, understanding, and solidarity. We would like to thank all co-organizers, supporters, sponsors, filmmakers, journalists, and, of course, our audience, who made this festival a place of encounter, hope, and cultural diversity.”

At the end of the evening, a musical performance provided an atmospheric finale to the festival.