Duhok International Film Festival
The 11th round of Duhok International Film Festival was opened in the Kurdistan Region with a screening of the motion picture “The Hope” directed by Orhan Ince, a joint production of Kurdistan - Turkey. The Kurdish director was present for the premiere along with the actor Yavuz Akkuzu, Ömer Akalın and Bedriye Roza Çelik. The event also hosted other prominent figures such as Duhok governor, Ali Tatar, the festival president Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir, the festival's artistic director Shawkat Amin Korki, the producer and cultural and artistic activist from the Kurdistan Region Abbas Ghazali, the jury members of the competition categories of World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema, as well as foreign filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts, according to Mansour Jahani, international cinema journalist.
The festival president Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir said: "This city gathers artists and filmmakers from different countries of the world every year. Today, we again declare our readiness to provide a standard platform for this important work, and in this festival, we open the doors of culture and art so that cinema can convey its message directly and truly, and the ground for establishing dialogue and discourse among cinematographers of the world is provided. The programs of this year's festival are detailed, Kurdish films will be welcomed by those interested, along with the films of the international section, as well as specialized meetings and workshops on the topic of cinema."
"After holding various meetings with the Indian Consulate in the city of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, we came to the conclusion that India should be present as a 'Country in Focus' in this period of the festival. This in itself is a great achievement; Because the position of the festival has been trusted and trusted by foreign countries. India is a special guest of the Duhok international film festival not only with its films, but also with several other artistic activities. Indian cinema on various social issues including; Poverty, injustice, violence, etc. are concentrated. The images that reflect the Indian society in the cinema; It has a great impact on the audience and stimulates their emotions. For this reason, Indian cinema has been successful in these fields," added Tahir.
CULTURE AND ART IN THE REGION
The cultural director asserted, Duhok International Film Festival considers not only the screening of films as its duty rather, it has been successful in other fields such as establishing intellectualism and promoting the status of culture and art in this region. In this period, the festival carries the message of sports. Sports are valued by all societies of the world; “Cinema and sports are two influential tools in people's lives today and they meet each other in different ways. In this current era, important sporting events are held and reflected by cinema and watched by the audience and will remain immortal forever. In this current era, it should be said that cinema is in the service of sports and both are the support of happiness and influence of the society and each one is hopeful and loyal to the other".
Duhok International Film Festival president said: "Art is a source of development and re-creation of thoughts and ideas; Exercise is also a source of strength and health of the body. Whatever the athletes do is art, and whatever art is done is sport. Therefore, it is necessary for every artist to have a sports life and every athlete to have an artistic and open mind."
Arian Salahaddin, Deputy Minister of Culture, Art and Youth of the Kurdistan regional government said, "I hope that the Kurdistan Region, as a land; It should be a location that will be the focus of the cameras of world cinema directors and where the art of cinema will take a step forward and we will witness the significant growth of the cinema of other countries here. Because what we have here may provide significant services to the art of cinema in the world, and we hope that the private sector will welcome Kurdistan's cinema even more. Because as you know more than us, the private sector has crossed many boundaries in the world cinema and we hope that in the climate of Kurdistan, investors will adjust their tastes and invest more in the field of cinema than in this field. Let's witness growth and development and provide great and more opportunities for cinematographers. So that in the near future, we will see the progress of Kurdistan's cinema along with the cinema of other countries of the world."
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