10th Duhok International Film Festival Winners Announced

The Yılmaz Güney Award in Duhok IFF awarded to “Between Revolutions”

The winners of the competition categories of World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema in the 10th edition of Duhok International Film Festival have been announced.

According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international cinema journalist, The closing ceremony of the 10th round of Duhok Film Festival was held on Saturday, 16 December, 2023 at Duhok University’s Congregation Hall, in the city of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, attended by Duhok governor Dr. Ali Tatar, Duhok Film Festival president Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir, the festival’s artistic director Shawkat Amin Korki, the jury members of the competition categories World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema, a number of filmmakers as well as cinema lovers. The winners in each section were announced and the Golden Leaf and Silver Leaf statues, plaques of appreciation, and the cash prizes were distributed amongst them.

The start of the ceremony featured a musical act by “Nizamettin Ariç”, the famous Kurdish composer and singer residing in Germany, along with Duhok music band, performing several pieces of Kurdish music, and it was followed by the distribution of awards.

Jury members of “World Cinema” competition category in this festival will grant a statue, a plaque, and Yılmaz Güney’s $10,000 award to best feature film, $5000 to best director, $5000 to best international short film, $5000 to new talent, jury’s special $1500 award to best short and the French Goethe Institute’s $5000 award to best international documentary.

World Cinema Competition Category

The ceremony continued with members of the jury in the World Cinema competition category including Emin Alper, filmmaker and screenwriter from Turkey as the jury president, Mahsa Mohebali, novelist and screenwriter from Iran, Nirmal Dhal, actor from India, Artur Zaborski, journalist from Poland and Chabname Zariab, Afghan screenwriter and filmmaker residing in France, announcing the winners as follows:

– The Yılmaz Güney Award was granted to the feature film “Between Revolutions” by Vlad Petri from Romania.

– The New Talent Award was granted to Milena Aboyan for the feature film “Elaha” from Germany.

– The jury’s special Mention was given to the feature film “No End” by Nader Saeivar, a joint production of Iran, Turkey, and Germany.

Kurdish Cinema Competition Category

The members of the jury for the feature-length films in the Kurdish Cinema competition category were the following:

Camille Laemel, producer from France, as the jury president, Maryam Boubani, actress from Iran, Mahmoud Abu Abbas from Iraq, Nizamettin Ariç, Kurdish composer and singer residing in Germany and Elsa Rassbach, producer from the US, who announced the winners as follows:

– The Best Film award of this category was given to “Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story” by Kordo Doski, a joint production of the US, Canada, Sweden, and Kurdistan Region.

– The Best Director award was granted to the feature film “Elif Ana” by Semir Aslanyürek and Kazim Öz from Turkey.

– The Best Screenplay award was given to Ayşe Polat for “In The Blind Spot” from Germany.

– Ahmed Mohammed from Iraq was awarded the Best Actor prize for his performance in the feature film “Baghdad Messi” – a joint production of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Kurdistan Region.

– Parwin Rajabi from Iran was awarded the Best Actress prize for her performance in “Transient Happiness”.

– The Jury’s Special Mention was given to Shima Mollai from Kurdistan Iran for her performance in the feature film “BEYAN”.

Short Films Competition Category:

The jurors for the category of shorts competition were the following:

Carmen Gray, journalist from New Zealand, as jury president, Kamiran Betasi, filmmaker from Kurdistan Region and Süheyla Schwenk, filmmaker from Germany. They announced the winners of this section as follows:

– The Best International Short Award was given to “Fairplay” by Zoel Aeschbacher, a joint production of Switzerland and France.

– The Best Kurdish Short Award was given to “Things Unheard of” by Ramazan Kılıç from Tureky.

– The Jury’s Special Mention was given to Zhino Hadi Hassan for “TRIANGLE” from Kurdistan Region.

Documentary Competition Category:

The jurors for documentaries competition were as follows:

Rodney Charles, actor and producer from England, as jury president, Anaïs Boelicke, artistic director from Germany and Rekesh Shahbaz, actor and filmmaker from Kurdistan Region. They announced the winners of this section as follows:

– The Best International Documentary Award was given to the feature-length film “The Sky is Mine” by Ayoub Naseri from Italy.

– The Best Kurdish Documentary Award was granted to the feature-length film “Iraq’s Invisible Beauty” co-directed by Sahim Omar Khalifa and Jurgen Buedts, a joint production of Belgium, France, and Kurdistan Region.

– The Jury’s Special Mention was given to Maria Binder for “Eren” from Turkey.

FIPRESCI Award:

The jury International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) comprises the were the following:

Katharina Dockhorn from Germany, Aina Randrianatoandro from Madagaskar, and Sait Tarakcioglu from Kurdistani Turkey are the figures involved. They announced the winner of this section as follows:

– The FIPRESCI Award was given to the motion picture “In The Blind Spot” by Ayşe Polat from Germany.

I congratulate all tonight’s winners

Duhok festival president, Amir Ali Muhammad Taher, said, “The festival’s agenda was a result of a year-long constant efforts made by my colleagues and I thank them for their endeveors. I congratulate all tonight’s winners. I thank Duhok’s governor’s office, mass media, Duhok University, along with the sponsoring bodies of the festival who kindly assisted us in holding this cinematic event.

Presided by Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir and artistic management by the Kurdish director, Shawkat Amin Korki, the 10th round of Duhok International Film Festival was held on 9-16 December, 2023, at Duhok University’s congregation hall and the Duhok Mall Cineplex in Duhok, Kurdistan Region. Heralding the motto of “Mother Tongue (Kurdish),” this edition of Duhok will showcase 116 films by directors of different geographical backgrounds, in a variety of formats such as feature films, shorts, and documentaries in the two categories of competition and out-of-competition.