All films

Jan follows a song heard from his grandmother and encounters the past. Kazım Öz connects a personal curiosity with cultural memory and a journey.

F Zer

Kazım Öz2017

Mira, a young Swiss woman in search of her roots, travels to Iraqi Kurdistan, where she meets the reckonings left by war, street justice and an unexp…

F The Swallow

Mano Khalil2016102 min

Dwarf brothers Alan and Shirwan set off from their Kurdish town for Spain, carrying handmade shoes for Ronaldo to win over the Real Madrid-mad father…

F El Clásico

Halkawt Mustafa201595 min

Five people from a refugee centre are allowed a day in Oslo. Their stories are tied together by a letter that 83-year-old Mirza wants to hand to the …

F Letter to the King

Hisham Zaman201475 min

BÎR / FILM2014

Sesime Gel / Were Dengê MinHüseyin Karabey

CINEMA / MEMORY / STORY↗

Berfe and her granddaughter Jiyan must find a weapon to hand over in order to free the detained Temo. Having no weapon sets them on a strange search …

F Sesime Gel / Were Dengê Min

Hüseyin Karabey2014

Siyar follows his runaway sister across Europe under the weight of family honour. Meeting Evin leads him to question both his mission and what he has…

F Before Snowfall

Hisham Zaman2013

Two brothers set out believing they can find Superman and change their lives. Karzan Kader connects children’s imaginative world with a difficult jou…

F Bekas

Karzan Kader201297 min

BÎR / FILM2011

Red HeartHalkawt Mustafa

CINEMA / MEMORY / STORY↗

Secret lovers Shirin and Soran run away on the night she is forced into a marriage. When Soran is arrested, Shirin is left alone in the big city; Hal…

F Red Heart

Halkawt Mustafa201180 min

Elderly Şeristan, living on the edge of Istanbul, asks her son Mirza to take her home and bury her there. Mirza boards a train to Batman, which the f…

F The Trace

Tayfur Aydın2011

A young Kurdish migrant stuck in Calais decides to swim the Channel to reach the girl he loves in England, and the lonely French coach who teaches hi…

F Welcome

Philippe Lioret2009110 min

Mam Baldar carries recorded messages between villages. An assignment to record a newborn’s voice becomes a journey through the connections that messa…

F Whisper with the Wind

Shahram Alidi2009

Istanbul actor Ayça sets out to reach her lover Hama Ali, a Kurdish actor in Iraq. In 2003, war and borders turn a relationship sustained by video me…online

F Gitmek / My Marlon and Brando

Hüseyin Karabey200892 min

Hiner Saleem takes a satirical look at a Kurdish region divided by the borders of three countries. Travel and border experiences frame life in a frag…

F Dol

Hiner Saleem200790 min

Two Kurdish soldiers transporting food in Iraq in 2003 find a child separated from his family. His name, Saddam, turns the question of protecting him…

F Crossing the Dust

Shawkat Amin Korki200673 min

Ageing musician Mamo sets out with his sons to perform in Iraqi Kurdistan. The search for a woman’s voice shapes a journey interrupted by borders and…

F Half Moon / Niwemang

Bahman Ghobadi2006107 min

Military service and a road assignment in Iraq place two people of different identities in the same vehicle. Hiner Saleem explores war, belonging and…

F Kilomètre Zéro

Hiner Saleem200591 min

After the Gulf War, the famous Kurdish musician Mirza hears from his ex-wife Hanareh, who left him years ago for Iraqi Kurdistan, and persuades his m…

F Marooned in Iraq

Bahman Ghobadi2002100 min

BÎR / FILM2001

The PhotographKazım Öz

CINEMA / MEMORY / STORY↗

Two young men become friends on a long bus journey, each unaware that he is heading for the opposite side of the conflict. Their meeting months later…

F The Photograph

Kazım Öz200166 min

After the chemical attack on Halabja, teachers carrying blackboards on their backs roam the mountain villages of the Iran–Iraq border looking for pup…

F Blackboards

Samira Makhmalbaf200088 min

A classic about freedom, family and social pressure through prisoners’ journeys on temporary leave, with directing credits for Yılmaz Güney and Şerif…online

F Yol

Yılmaz Güney · Şerif Gören1982

A Kurdish family from Pervari in Siirt, cornered by a blood feud in the 1970s, takes its flock to Ankara to sell; the train journey slowly wears down…online

F The Herd

Zeki Ökten · Yılmaz Güney1978129 min

A cab driver who lives by his horse loses everything when a car kills it, and sets out after a legendary treasure. Written, directed by and starring …online

F Hope

Yılmaz Güney1970