Saturday, September 26, 2009

The First New York Kurdish Film Festival: A cinema across borders

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October 21-25

Line-Up Includes the US Premiere of Kazim Öz’s Newest Film “The Storm”

New York, NY— THE FIRST NEW YORK KURDISH FILM FESTIVAL: A CINEMA ACROSS BORDERS is the first-ever film festival of Kurdish cinema in the United States. Bringing together an exciting range of films and documentaries from across the Kurdish region and the Kurdish diaspora, the festival will feature ten short films, a documentary and eight feature films, including the US premiere of The Storm by Kaz’m Öz (Ax, Fotograf). In addition, the festival will include a Filmmakers’ Panel with six prominent Kurdish filmmakers from Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and the diaspora to connect directly with New York audiences, and post-film Q&As with the filmmakers, providing potential new routes for understanding and dialogue. Situated in the heart of the Middle East, Kurdish cinema intersects with many of the great political conflicts of our age. These diverse films provide powerful and unexpected insights into our common world through stunning cinematography, rich narratives, and deeply humane storytelling.

All screenings will take place at the NYU Cantor Film Center (36 East 8th Street, NY, NY) and the NYU Hagop Kevorkian Center (50 Washington Square South at 255 Sullivan Street, NY, NY). Tickets can be purchased for $10 general admission through SmartTix on www.smarttix.com or 212-868-4444. Tickets for the Filmmakers’ Panel, Cinema Shorts, Yol, and Close Up Kurdistan are free, but reservations through www.smarttix.com are strongly advised. For more information, please visit www.nykff.com.

THE FIRST NEW YORK KURDISH FILM FESTIVAL: A CINEMA ACROSS BORDERS is directed by an independent organizing committee, presented by the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU, ArteEast and The London Kurdish Film Festival and supported, in part, by the Center for Religion and Media at NYU, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the French-American Cultural Exchange, the Norwegian Film Institute and by public funds from New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

To arrange pre-festival phone interviews with film directors or in-person interviews between Oct 21-25, or to obtain screeners, please contact Rosey Strub on 718.857.0013 or rosey.strub@gmail.com.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21

7:00PM HALF MOON

Bahman Ghobadi (East & South Kurdistan (Iran, Iraq), Austria, France, 2006, 107 min)

NYU Cantor Film Center

A haunting film about the clash between human resolve and political reality, Half Moon, directed by internationally renowned Kurdish auteur Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses, Turtles Can Fly), provides a sophisticated vision of the new realities of the Kurdistan region after the US invasion of Iraq. Mamo, an iconic Kurdish musician in the twilight of his life and in failing health, must lead a dozen of his sons to Iraq for a concert to celebrate the fall of Saddam Hussein and the end of his repression of Kurdish music. Their increasingly tortuous journey across a maze of borders proves by turn dangerous and surreal, paralleling the predicament of Kurdish identity in a hostile political world. This outstanding new film from won the top prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival together with awards for writing and photography.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22

12:30PM LUNCHEON SEMINAR SERIES

NYU Kevorkian Center—FREE

NYU-AFFILIATED EVENT: Transnational Developments Affecting Peace and Conflict in Kurdistan: Recent Events in Historical Perspective with Janet Klein, Assistant Professor of History, University of Akron.

6:30PM CINEMA SHORTS: WOMEN IN KURDISH CINEMA

NYU Cantor Film Center—FREE

This program includes short films made by and about women, created by filmmakers from the Kurdish regions and the Kurdish diaspora: TOTICO by Khadija C. Baker (Canada, 2007, 2 min); DENGBEJ WOMEN by Women’s Collective of Atölyemor/Filmmor Women’s Cooperative (North Kurdistan (Turkey), 2006, 22 min); THE SEED by Müjde Arslan (North Kurdistan (Turkey), 2009,13 min); OVEN by Ashkan Ahmadi (East Kurdistan (Iran),14 min) and BORDER by Sattar Chamani Gol (East Kurdistan (Iran), 2008,10 min). Müjde Arslan, director of THE SEED, will lead a post-film discussion.

8:30PM CROSSING THE DUST

Shawkat Amin Korki (South Kurdistan (Iraq)-France, 2006, 73 min)

NYU Cantor Film Center

In this striking post-9/11 road movie set in Iraq during the 2003 American invasion, two Kurdish peshmerga (resistance fighters) find a lost five-year-old Arab boy, named Saddam. Amidst the chaos of the war raging around them, they attempt to find a safe haven for the boy with villagers, mullahs and Americans, Simultaneously, the boy’s parents search frantically, anxious because the boy’s name is now taboo.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

12:00PM KURDISH VISUAL MEDIA (Book Signing & Reception)

NYU Kevorkian Center Library—FREE

Three groundbreaking books on Kurdish experience and the visual arts: Director Müjde Arslan introduces her new book Kurdish Cinema (Agora Bookhouse, 2009), the first book ever on Kurdish film; Photographer Susan Meiselas discusses her seminal book Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History (2nd ed, Univ. of Chicago, 2008), which traces Kurdish history through photographs and accounts by colonial administrators, missionaries, journalists, and other travelers to Kurdistan over the last century; and human rights campaigner Kerim Yildiz presents Kurds: Through the Photographer’s Lens (Trolley Ltd., 2008), a unique book of photographs, poetry and writing published to mark the Kurdish Human Rights Project’s 15th anniversary.

6:30PM CINEMA SHORTS: IDENTITY, LOSS & WAR

NYU Cantor Film Center—FREE

Combining abstract and realistic narrative styles, these short films address the destruction and desolation wrought by war: CHEEESE…HOPE DIES LAST by Hüseyin Tabak (Austria/Germany, 2008, 12 min); SHADOW AND WIND by Arin Inan Arslan (North Kurdistan (Turkey), 2006, 15 min); THE BORDER by Zahavi Sanjavi (South Kurdistan (Iraq), 2005, 27 min); MY BEAUTIFUL SON WILL BE THE KING by Salem Salavati (East Kurdistan (Iran), 2008, 9 min).

8:00PM MY MARLON AND BRANDO

Hüseyin Karabey (North Kurdistan (Turkey), 2008, 93 min)

NYU Cantor Film Center

Based on the true story of the post-invasion cross-border romance between renowned Iraqi Kurdish actor Hama Ali and his Turkish actress girlfriend Ayca Damgaci, My Marlon and Brando stars the two real-life lovers in documentarian Hüseyin Karabey’s fiction-feature debut. A moving statement on war and the confining artificiality of borders, My Marlon and Brando also reveals the eye-opening journey Damgaci takes as a Turk attempting to be with her Kurdish lover, learning firsthand the grim racism and repression faced by Kurds in her own country and across the borders of Iraq and Iran.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24

10AM-1PM SATURDAY SEMINAR FOR TEACHERS: THE KURDS: CULTURE, POLITICS AND HISTORY ACROSS BORDERS

NYU Kevorkian Center Library—FREE

NYU-AFFILIATED EVENT: This workshop is free and registration is open to K-16 educators. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Please contact kevorkian.center@nyu.edu for details.

1:00PM YOL

Yılmaz Güney/ Şerif Gören (North Kurdistan (Turkey)-Switzerland, 1982, 114 min)

NYU Kevorkian Center Screening Room—FREE

Winner of the Palme D’Or at Cannes in 1982, Yol remains a masterpiece of Kurdish – and world – cinema. Written and directed by virtuoso filmmaker Yilmaz Güney from behind prison walls (through laborious directorial notes sent to his assistant Şerif Gören who did the actual shooting of the film), Yol paints a stark portrait of Turkey in the aftermath of the 1980 Turkish coup d’état the stories of five prisoners who are given a week’s home leave.

Post-film discussion with Sibel Erol, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University.

4:00PM DIALOGUE ACROSS BORDERS: KURDISH DIRECTORS IN CONVERSATION

FILMMAKERS’ PANEL

NYU Cantor Film Center—FREE

Six major figures in Kurdish Cinema from Iran, Iraq, Turkey and the diaspora will discuss their work and the current state of Kurdish film and Kurdistan. Filmmakers are Müjde Arslan, Bahman Ghobadi, Kazım Öz, Jano Rosebiani, Hiner Saleem, and Hisham Zaman.

7:00PM THE STORM US PREMIERE!

Kazım Öz (North Kurdistan (Turkey), 2008, 165 min)

NYU Cantor Film Center

Set amidst the political upheaval on Turkish college campuses in the early 1990s, The Storm follows Cemal, a bright young Economics major from a village in southern Turkey, on a journey to political commitment. After befriending a group of revolutionary Kurdish students, Cemal’s eyes are gradually opened to Turkish state repression as he witnesses police violence, arrest and torture firsthand. Post-film Q&A with director Kazım Öz.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25

1:00PM CLOSE UP KURDISTAN

Yüksel Yavuz (Germany, 2007, 104 min)

NYU Kevorkian Center Screening Room—FREE

Reversing the route of refugees fleeing conflict and insecurity in Kurdistan, Yüksel Yavuz documents his journey from the safety of Europe back though Turkey to a refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan. Through the often harrowing stories of those he meets along the way – including Nobel Peace Prize nominee Ismail Besikci, imprisoned for 17 years as a dissident intellectual – Yavuz’s film provides an intimate glimpse into the daily realities of a people often forgotten in American discussions of the Middle East. Groundbreaking in its reinvention of the documentary form, Close Up Kurdistan gives Western audiences an invaluable perspective on some of the most pressing political issues facing the Kurds. Post-film discussion with Kemal Suleymani, Kurdish Historian, Columbia University.

3:30PM JIYAN

Jano Rosebiani (South Kurdistan (Iraq), 2002, 94 min)

NYU Cantor Film Center

Five years after the 1988 gas attack on the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja, which killed 5,000 Kurds and maimed thousands more, Diyari – an Iraqi Kurd who now lives in America – returns to his homeland to build an orphanage. He befriends Jiyan, a shy ten-year old orphan and a survivor of the chemical attack. Loosely based on testimonial accounts, Jiyan includes a number of survivors as cast members in the film. Post-film Q&A with director Jano Rosebiani.

5:30PM BAWKE & WINTERLAND

Hisham Zaman (Norway, 2005, 15 min; Norway, 2007, 52 min)

NYU Cantor Film Center

Crafted with deft handheld camerawork, Bawke captures the tension and desperation of an Iraqi Kurdish father and his young son as they make a life-threatening attempt to cross Europe and find a safe haven. In just 15 minutes, director Hisham Zaman creates a visceral sense of impending disaster and the hopelessness faced by the two isolated refugees.

With great humor and stunning cinematography, Winterland tells the story of Renas, a well-adjusted Kurdish refugee who lives in a godforsaken part of northern Norway. Renas has everything he wants, except a wife….but soon his special princess, Fermesk, will be joining him from Iraq. Though the couple has never met, they have already fallen in love from looking at each other’s photographs – though Fermesk is now a much bigger woman, and Renas isn’t quite the handsome young man of that photo taken years ago….. Post-film Q&A with director Hisham Zaman.

7:30PM VODKA LEMON

Hiner Saleem (Armenia-France-Italy-Switzerland, 2003, 90 min)

NYU Cantor Film Center

A sophisticated tour de force from acclaimed Kurdish director Hiner Saleem, Vodka Lemon combines a darkly comic vision with worldly pathos. Set in a remote Kurdish village in Armenia, the film tells the gentle love story of an ex-army officer and a vodka-lemon stand barmaid, who meet during their daily trips to visit their spouse’s graves. Saleem intercuts the love story with surrealistic vignettes and a biting humor to reveal a bittersweet portrait of people in precarious times.

Post-film Q&A with director Hiner Saleem.

1ST NEW YORK KURDISH FILM FESTIVAL

WWW.NYKFF.COM

TICKETS

SmartTix: www.smarttix.com or 212-868-4444

$10 general admission

FREE EVENTS

Filmmakers’ Panel, Cinema Shorts, Yol, Close Up Kurdistan & Book Release

Reservations required. Please reserve tickets through www.smarttix.com.

LUNCHEON SEMINAR SERIES & SATURDAY SEMINAR FOR TEACHERS

Free, but pre-registration is required. Contact kevorkian.center@nyu.edu for details.

SCREENING LOCATIONS

NYU Cantor Film Center

36 East 8th Street, NY, NY

NYU Hagop Kevorkian Center

50 Washington Square South (at 255 Sullivan Street), NY, NY

INFORMATION

To arrange pre-festival phone interviews with film directors or in-person interviews between Oct 21-25, or to obtain screeners, please contact Rosey Strub on 718.857.0013 or rosey.strub@gmail.com.

NYU Faculty, Staff & Students: Contact Greta Scharnweber on 212-998-8872 or greta.scharnweber@nyu.edu

All other inquiries, please call 646-375-5222, email nykff@gmail.com or visit www.nykff.com.