11th Duhok International Film Festival to be held with Indian Cinema Focus

Sports is the motto and main theme of the 11th Duhok International film festival

The 11th edition of Duhok International Film Festival will be held in the city of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, with the theme of sports, focusing on Indian cinema and with the films of directors from different countries of the world.

According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international cinema journalist, Presided by Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir and artistic management by the Kurdish director, Shawkat Amin Korki, the 11th round of Duhok International Film Festival is set to be held on 9-16 December, 2024, at Duhok University’s congregation hall and the Duhok Mall Cineplex in Duhok, Kurdistan Region. Heralding the motto of Sports, this edition of Duhok will showcase 107 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.

Promotion and development of cinema and progress of Duhok Film Festival

The first press conference of the 11th Duhok international film festival was held in the Panorama Azadi hall in the city of Duhok, with the presence of directors of various departments of this cinema event and mass media journalists, and Massoud Arif, the official spokesperson of this festival, stated in a press conference, every year, at the same time as the Duhok international film festival, two things, including; The promotion and development of cinema and the development of the festival and culture of Duhok, as well as the development of art in general and cinema in particular, are very important for us. We believe that when we are setting up the first news conference of the new period of the festival; We celebrate it with great excitement. Because our colleagues in different parts of the festival were working for many months to bring the festival to this stage.

Received 750 movies in World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema

He added: We announced that from June 15 to September 1, 2024, we will accept films to participate in the 11th edition of the Duhok International Film Festival, through the film portal. Fortunately, this year, 750 foreign and Kurdish films from the directors of the countries different parts of the world, was sent to the festival secretariat After the evaluation by the selection board of the festival, consisting of experienced artists, finally 107 films made it to the competition, of which 61 foreign films including; 9 feature films, 7 documentaries and 11 short films in the competition of World Cinema and 34 films in the out-of-competition of World Cinema from 31 countries, as well as 46 Kurdish films including; 7 feature films, 8 documentaries and 12 short films will be screened in the competition of Kurdish Cinema and 19 films in the out-of-competition of Kurdish Cinema.

We are happy to hold the festival at this specific time every year

By Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir, the president of Duhok International Film Festival, stated in a press conference, each cycle of the Duhok film festival is the result of a year’s effort, diligence and perseverance of my colleagues who are working in different departments. All these sympathies have made us able to add this year to the previous periods of the festival. We are truly blessed to have colleagues who are cheerful, professional, friendly and non-stop; They try to hold the festival at this specific time every year. I hope that we can continue this process and hold the Dahuk film festival well and professionally every year; This also requires the presence of knowledgeable, skilled and caring colleagues behind the scenes of this cinematic event.

The people of Kurdistan and the world are the main owners of the Duhok film festival

He added: because the establishment of this festival in Dohuk is the continuation of cultural, artistic and especially cinematographic activities in this civilized and historical city. It is true that this festival is held in the city of Duhok; But in reality, the people of Kurdistan and the world are the main owners of this festival. Every cinematographer in every corner of this world with his work and life appears in the Duhok film festival and shows his film to the people. The festival belongs to him and it is a great honor for us to welcome and entertain them well.

Indian cinema is the special guest of the 11th Duhok Film Festival

This cultural director said about the guest cinema section of the festival: Like the tradition and customs of the past years, this year we have chosen India as the guest country in the Duhok international film festival and we are very happy that Indian cinema is the guest. It is the 11th period of the festival. India is a rich and rich country, especially in the field of cinema. What makes us happy is that for two years they were serious and continuous; They were persistent and requested to be guests of the Duhok film festival with their valuable cinema and to be present in this film event with their films and several other cultural and artistic activities. In fact, this presence will give the festival another weight and position.

The sound of the Duhok Film Festival reached the countries of the world

By Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir said: We held several meetings with the Indian Consulate in Erbil city. This is another valuable document that the voice of the Duhok international film festival has reached the countries of the world. The artistic and valuable activities of this festival have been so effective that the important cinema of a country like India wants to participate in the festival. For us, it was another important and encouraging moment; Because my generation and my colleagues have lived with Indian movies and we have very good memories of this artistic and fruitful cinema. Even from the historical, social and cultural point of view, our nation has a lot in common with the Indian nation. Every year, more than two thousand films are produced in India, and it is a great honor for us that a country with such cultural and artistic richness is a guest of the Duhok Film Festival, and in fact, this makes us proud.

Sports is the motto and main theme of the 11th Duhok Film Festival

“After the many meetings we held with our colleagues in the festival, this year the main theme of the festival is “sports” and universal sports. We are all well aware that sports have found their place in the world. In my opinion, sports is a universal issue And this year, several prestigious sports events in the world, including; The 2024 Paris Olympics, the UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany and the 2024 Copa America Cup in the United States were held, and after a lot of research we did with our colleagues, we came to the conclusion that sports as the theme and slogan Let’s choose the main feature of the 11th Duhok International film festival,” said the president.

We believe that art and sports are very close together

“A lot of work has been done in the field of sports, and we also want to contribute to the enrichment of this field as much as possible with our activities. We also want to integrate sports with cinema. As a land with rich culture and civilization; We have produced several films, documentaries and short films in this field about our famous sports heroes, and really making such works has its own difficulties to bring it closer to the world of art and cinema. We believe that art and sports are very close to each other and we should provide our services in these two areas, which are operating separately,” Tahir commented.

Awarding the Golden Hair Leaf statuette to the winners

Hassan Arif, the Public Relations Manager of the 11th edition of Duhok International Film Festival, stated about the awards of this film event, 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 dollar award to best international documentary.

Trusted member of Asia Pacific Screen Awards

He added: Based in Iraq, Duhok Film Festival is a trusted member of Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia known as Asian Oscars, introducing global films in this cinematic event.

Duhok Film Festival, presided by Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir, with artistic management by Shawkat Amin Korki, and in memoriam of Yılmaz Güney, the 1982 Palme d’or winner in Cannes, is in an effort to bridge the gap between Kurdish directors and those from the rest of the world, facilitating cultural exchanges among the nations all around the world.