ERBIL () - The Portobello Film Festival in London, in partnership with the Birmingham Kurdish Film Festival, is dedicating a special evening to Kurdish cinema on Monday screening 17 Kurdish films at the Moze Gallery in London in what organizers describe as a landmark step for the recognition of Kurdish cinema on the international stage.
Star Chamangul, a member of the Birmingham Kurdish Film Festival's organizing committee, told on Monday: "In previous years, only two Kurdish films participated in the festival within the Iranian film section, but this time, with the dedication of a special evening, 17 Kurdish films are being screened under their own name and within an independent programme."
On the significance of the occasion, Chamangul said: "This step is seen as an important step toward introducing Kurdish cinema and presenting its works to audiences outside Kurdistan."She explained that the films participating in the evening had previously been screened at the first edition of the Birmingham Kurdish Film Festival.
Chamangul expressed hope that the partnership will continue in future years and that the Kurdish cinema evening will become an annual tradition at the Portobello Film Festival, similar to the evenings previously dedicated to Russian and Iranian cinema.
The 17 films being screened include Pain, directed by Burhan Ahmadi and Leyla Baghbani; Lemon Knows Everything, directed by Idris Mahmoudi; Son, directed by Saman Hosseinpour; Mori, directed by Yaqut Tekintangash; Body, directed by Ashkan Ahmadi; A Dance for Freedom, directed by Salem Salawati; Manly, directed by Adib Faridun; and Anita Is Lost in the News, directed by Behzad Nalbandi.
The programme also includes Without Reference, directed by Hivar Omar; Sweet Border, directed by Hadi Ahmadi; 30 Years One Night, directed by Mohammed Ismail; Descent, directed by Ashkan Saadpana; The Unheard Things, directed by Ramazan Kilic; A Crazy Connection, directed by Raz Kamaran; One Hour Remaining, directed by Zaniar Kakakhani; Nietzsche's Suicide, directed by Peyman Kurdistani; and Songs of the Plain, directed by Gita Faizi.
The Kurdish cinema evening at the Portobello Film Festival represents a qualitative shift in how Kurdish filmmakers are represented at international film events, moving from inclusion within a broader Iranian or Middle Eastern programme category to recognition as a distinct and independent cinematic tradition with its own dedicated platform. The Birmingham Kurdish Film Festival's partnership with one of London's established film festivals provides a concrete institutional pathway through which Kurdish cinema can build a sustained international audience beyond the diaspora community.
