11th edition of Duhok International Film Festival to be focused on Indian cinema

The 11th edition of Duhok International Film Festival will be held in the city of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, with the theme of sports as main topic and, focusing on Indian cinema. According to Mansour Jahani, an independent and international cinema journalist, the 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.

Massoud Arif, the official spokesperson of this festival, said they have announced that from June 15 to September 1, 2024, they 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".

Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir, the president of Duhok International Film Festival, stated each cycle of the Duhok film festival is the result of a year's effort, diligence and perseverance. "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."

SPECIAL GUEST
This year, the Festival has chosen India as the guest country. "We are very happy that Indian cinema is the guest, it 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," said Tahir.

SPORTS IS THE MOTTO
"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.

GOLDEN HAIR
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 the best director, $5000 to the 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 the best international documentary.