Skip to main content

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival · 2013

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2013

Focus on Kurdish Films

Programme

14 films · 2 reviews

Jump to a film

111 Girls

A satirical road movie with magical motifs: the president of Iran receives a letter from 111 Kurdish girls. It demands that the government find them husbands – otherwise they will commit mass suicide. In order to prevent a tragedy, a high-ranking government official sets out for the region with his aide and a young guide.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2012; Director: Nahid Ghobadi, Bijan Zmanpira; Writer: Bahman Ghobadi; Stars: Reza Behbudi, Mehdi Saki, Amin Sadeghi)

Bawke

A father is forced to choose between two evils to provide for his son.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2006; Director: Hisham Zaman; Writer: Hisham Zaman; Stars: Sedar Ahmad Saleh, Broa Ako Rasol, Håkon Hatlen, Håvard Jenssen, Kemal Mohammed Kadir, Vebjørn Storeide, Rolf Erik Haug, Samir Zedan, Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen, Anita Knai, Ahmed Badini, Kjetil Molnes, Sofie Skåttun, Amanj Ahmed)

Before Snowfall (Før snøen faller)

Review preview for Before Snowfall

Zaman is not looking to rush to judgement of his characters but to explore what makes them tick and give a feel for how traditions get passed down the generations.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A youngster from Kurdistan tracks his sister across Europe after she flees before her wedding.

(Country: Norway, Germany, Iraq; Year: 2013; Director: Hisham Zaman; Writer: Kjell Ola Dahl, Hisham Zaman; Stars: Billey Demirtas, Eva Medusa Gühne, Suzan Ilir, Nazmi Kirik, Jin Musa, Bahar Ozen, Volga Sorgu, Abdullah Taher, Mohammed Tejir, Birol Ünel)

Full review

The First Movie

A filmmaker takes his equipment to a small Iraqi village so that children there can make their own film, expressing their feelings about the war and their hopes for the future.

(Country: UK, Iraq; Year: 2009; Director: Mark Cousins)

Ghi Ghoo

A minimalist story about a man, a bird, a nest, and a bell.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2012; Director: Iraj Mohammadi Zarini)

If You Die, I'll Kill You (Si tu meurs, je te tue)

Frenchman Philippe and Kurd Avdal meet up in a French bar and become friends. But fate strikes quickly and unexpectedly, and Avdal’s beautiful fiancée Siba will soon be arriving at the airport. Will everyone manage to come to terms in some respectable way with their sorrow, their cultural differences, and with the demands of traditional morality?

(Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: Hiner Saleem; Writer: Hiner Saleem; Stars: Jonathan Zaccaï, Golshifteh Farahani, Billey Demirtas, Özz Nûjen, Menderes Samancilar, Nazmi Kirik, Mylène Demongeot, Jane Birkin, Feyyaz Duman, Omer Faruk Cecen, Sadettin Cecen, Hamdullah Cecen, Maurice Bénichou, Ludivine Clerc, Hiner Saleem)

Kick Off

Review preview for Kick Off

The photography is stunning and many of the set pieces are visually exciting.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Organising a football match amongst the ruins of broken lives in Kirkuk, Iraq.

(Country: Iraq, Kurdistan; Year: 2009; Director: Shawkat Amin Korki; Writer: Shawkat Amin Korki; Stars: Shwan Atuf, Govar Anwar, Rojan Hamajaza, Mohamad Hamed, Nasir Hassan, Soheila Hasan)

Full review

The Land Of Heroes (Ard al abtal)

The Iran-Iraq War is coming to an end. A boy and girl collect weapons for their mother to sell. The kids are looking forward to watching cartoons but Saddam Hussein is speaking on every single TV station. Maybe it will be more fun playing war and torture with their brutal cousin.

(Country: Belgium, Iraq; Year: 2011; Director: Sahim Omar Kalifa; Writer: Sahim Omar Kalifa; Stars: Shimal Abdi, Naima Abdo, Adla Bapir, Faryal Bozan, Zana Gandi, Bayar Mohammad, Sarwar Mustafa, Ahmed Nisret, Raad Said, Noor Sami, Sama Sami, Ali Zebari)

The Last Winter (Zemestane akhar)

The mayor feels responsible for the depopulated village, whereas his wife spends her time embroidering and waiting for the return of their missing son from the army.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2012; Director: Salem Salavati)

Rhino Season

The tale of Sahel, an Iranian-Kurdish poet newly released from a 30-year prison sentence who thinks of nothing but finding his wife.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2012; Director: Bahman Ghobadi; Stars: Behrouz Vossoughi, Monica Bellucci, Yilmaz Erdogan, Caner Cindoruk, Belçim Bilgin, Arash Labaf, Ali Pourtash, Beren Saat)

Silent

A young woman goes to visit her incarcerated husband. In prison, however, only Turkish is allowed, but since she only speaks Kurdish she can´t say a single word to her husband.

(Country: Turkey; Year: 2012; Director: Rezan Yeşilbaş)

Stone Melody (Melody bard)

Documentary about the importance of stones to a community.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2011; Director: Parviz Rostami)

The Sunset Of Snail (Ghoroube halazoun)

A guard at a huge auto salvage yard lounges around among the dilapidated vehicles, clearly having resigned himself to fate. One day a mysterious woman in black grabs his attention...

(Country: Iran; Year: 2012; Director: Azad Mohammadi)

The Way (Yol, The Road)

A portrait of Turkey in the wake of the 1980 Turkish coup d'état.

(Country: Turkey, Switzerland, France; Year: 1982; Director: Serif Gören, Yilmaz Güney; Writer: Yilmaz Güney; Stars: Tarik Akan, Serif Sezer, Halil Ergün, Meral Orhonsay, Necmettin Çobanoglu, Semra Uçar, Hikmet Çelik, Sevda Aktolga, Tuncay Akça, Hale Akinli, Turgut Savas, Hikmet Tasdemir, Engin Çelik, Osman Bardakçi, Enver Güney)