Count down to London Kurdish Film Festival
Count down to London Kurdish Film Festival
The Kurdish Film Festival kicks off on Saturday. The festival has reached its 7th edition. Launched in 2001, it represents the first ever Kurdish Film Festival of its kind to be instituted worldwide and was organised with the support of the main Kurdish community centres in London namely Kurdish Cultural Centre in Oval, Kurdish and Turkish Community Centre (Halkevi-Malagel) in Hackney, Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey and Kurdish Exile Association in Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Led by a group of volunteers, its objective is to support the development of Kurdish cinema. By showcasing films made by Kurdish directors on any subject, and films of a feature, short and documentary style nature, on Kurds, by non-Kurdish directors, it encourages and provides a platform for both Kurdish and non Kurdish producers and film makers, many of them young directors. This helps expose and bring work that is produced and/ or inspired by Kurds to new audiences, and also highlights the issues and experiences facing not only Kurds, but in fact any minority or migrant community, ensuring its importance and continued relevance to us all.
Film festivals, as vehicles for artistic and cultural expression, are able to promote better cultural understanding and by creating linkages between different sectors of society, are one of the most effective mechanisms to help integrate migrant communities into the host nation; our experience with the London Kurdish Film Festival is no different.
In its short history, it has already become one of the most successful film festivals to be organised by a particular ethnic minority community in London, helping foster relationships and bridge gaps between those in the Kurdish and wider society. Between 2001 and 2006, we have organised three major film festivals which have been attended by over 10,000 people from extremely diverse ethnic and social backgrounds. In so doing, our success has inspired and encouraged the broader Kurdish Diaspora elsewhere in Europe to organise similar festivals or film days in other countries with significant Kurdish populations, including Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland.
The Jury this year has five members.
- Azad Nasseh Ali ( Azad Kerkuki) was born in 1964 in Kirkuk in Southern Kurdistan. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Sulaymaniyah, studying theatre in 1981. In 1984, he moved to Denmark where he produced several works in theatre and music. In 1988, he moved to Moscow to study cinema and he obtained a masters degree from the VGIK Film School. Azad has made numerous short films, documentaries and TV movies. His most recent work is a series of historical documentaries on the Kurdish Liberation movement in Iraqi Kurdistan from 1914 – 1992.
- Marie Olesen is an award-winning film & TV producer and factual journalist with a background in radio production. Marie set up Autonomi in 2002, a Glasgow-based production company with two business partners. Olesen has filmed across the world and produced current affairs, dramas and documentaries for international audiences. She produced Kurdi (LKFF, 2009) and has a work-in-progress called Minefield. Both films feature filming in Kurdistan and directed by Doug Aubrey. Marie is also co-Founding Director of a video training and mentoring outfit called Di- versity Films.
- Nazire Turan was born in Siverek, a small town in North Kurdistan. She is currently working as a cinema coordinator at Diyarbakýr Metropolitian Municipality. After she graduated from the Department of Chemistry at Dicle University, Nazire completed a film directing program at FAMU in the Czech Republic in 2009. Earlier this year she began studying in the Cinema and Media research programme at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul. She has directed several short films and organised work-shops for young filmmakers. In 2009, she was Joint Coordinator of the International Conference on Kurdish Cinema jointly organised by Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality and Diyarbakir Art centre.
- Shiar Abdi was born in 1973 in Zamar, South Kurdistan, Iraq. At the age of 20 he left his home in Syria for the Netherlands. In 2005 Shiar Abdi moved to Germany where he studied film direction. There he made several short films, which have been shown at many international festivals. In 2011 he completed his first feature film MESH (WALKING), which is one of the first films to be shot in the Kurdish language in Turkey.
- Vida Salehi was born in the city of Sanandaj in East Kurdistan (Iran). She started writing short stories at a very early age and was selected as best young short story writer in Iran for five consecutive years beginning in 1993. In addition to her writing career, Vida has written several film scripts, worked as a photographer for numerous films, and in 2009 she wrote a 20-part series for TV SANA, which was directed by Sattar Chamani- Gol. Vida Salehi has also starred in feature films and is currently heading the Setak Film Distribution Company which distributes Kurdish movies around the globe. She is currently working on script for a film called The Cloudy Skies of Kirkuk, a movie which is planned to be shot in Kirkuk later this year.
Led by a group of volunteers, its objective is to support the development of Kurdish cinema. By showcasing films made by Kurdish directors on any subject, and films of a feature, short and documentary style nature, on Kurds, by non-Kurdish directors, it encourages and provides a platform for both Kurdish and non Kurdish producers and film makers, many of them young directors. This helps expose and bring work that is produced and/ or inspired by Kurds to new audiences, and also highlights the issues and experiences facing not only Kurds, but in fact any minority or migrant community, ensuring its importance and continued relevance to us all.
Film festivals, as vehicles for artistic and cultural expression, are able to promote better cultural understanding and by creating linkages between different sectors of society, are one of the most effective mechanisms to help integrate migrant communities into the host nation; our experience with the London Kurdish Film Festival is no different.
In its short history, it has already become one of the most successful film festivals to be organised by a particular ethnic minority community in London, helping foster relationships and bridge gaps between those in the Kurdish and wider society. Between 2001 and 2006, we have organised three major film festivals which have been attended by over 10,000 people from extremely diverse ethnic and social backgrounds. In so doing, our success has inspired and encouraged the broader Kurdish Diaspora elsewhere in Europe to organise similar festivals or film days in other countries with significant Kurdish populations, including Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland.
The Jury this year has five members.
- Azad Nasseh Ali ( Azad Kerkuki) was born in 1964 in Kirkuk in Southern Kurdistan. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Sulaymaniyah, studying theatre in 1981. In 1984, he moved to Denmark where he produced several works in theatre and music. In 1988, he moved to Moscow to study cinema and he obtained a masters degree from the VGIK Film School. Azad has made numerous short films, documentaries and TV movies. His most recent work is a series of historical documentaries on the Kurdish Liberation movement in Iraqi Kurdistan from 1914 – 1992.
- Marie Olesen is an award-winning film & TV producer and factual journalist with a background in radio production. Marie set up Autonomi in 2002, a Glasgow-based production company with two business partners. Olesen has filmed across the world and produced current affairs, dramas and documentaries for international audiences. She produced Kurdi (LKFF, 2009) and has a work-in-progress called Minefield. Both films feature filming in Kurdistan and directed by Doug Aubrey. Marie is also co-Founding Director of a video training and mentoring outfit called Di- versity Films.
- Nazire Turan was born in Siverek, a small town in North Kurdistan. She is currently working as a cinema coordinator at Diyarbakýr Metropolitian Municipality. After she graduated from the Department of Chemistry at Dicle University, Nazire completed a film directing program at FAMU in the Czech Republic in 2009. Earlier this year she began studying in the Cinema and Media research programme at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul. She has directed several short films and organised work-shops for young filmmakers. In 2009, she was Joint Coordinator of the International Conference on Kurdish Cinema jointly organised by Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality and Diyarbakir Art centre.
- Shiar Abdi was born in 1973 in Zamar, South Kurdistan, Iraq. At the age of 20 he left his home in Syria for the Netherlands. In 2005 Shiar Abdi moved to Germany where he studied film direction. There he made several short films, which have been shown at many international festivals. In 2011 he completed his first feature film MESH (WALKING), which is one of the first films to be shot in the Kurdish language in Turkey.
- Vida Salehi was born in the city of Sanandaj in East Kurdistan (Iran). She started writing short stories at a very early age and was selected as best young short story writer in Iran for five consecutive years beginning in 1993. In addition to her writing career, Vida has written several film scripts, worked as a photographer for numerous films, and in 2009 she wrote a 20-part series for TV SANA, which was directed by Sattar Chamani- Gol. Vida Salehi has also starred in feature films and is currently heading the Setak Film Distribution Company which distributes Kurdish movies around the globe. She is currently working on script for a film called The Cloudy Skies of Kirkuk, a movie which is planned to be shot in Kirkuk later this year.
