The 11th edition of the Duhok International Film Festival (DuhokIFF) will run from December 9 to 16. The event will be held at Duhok University’s congregation hall and the Duhok Mall Cineplex in Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
DuhokIFF is an annual event held in memory of filmmaker Yılmaz Güney, the 1982 Palme d’Or winner in Cannes. It aims to bridge the gap between Kurdish directors and those worldwide and facilitate cultural exchanges.
Over 107 films are participating in this year’s edition under the theme of Sports and Cinema. The films cover a variety of formats, such as feature films, shorts, and documentaries. The festival comprises two categories: competition and out-of-competition. Fifty-five films are participating in the competition section. For the 2024 edition of the festival, India has been chosen as the ‘Country in Focus’.
Prominent guests from the world of Arabic cinema at the festival this year include Egyptian actresses Elham Shahin and Elham Safi El Din, Syrian actress Kinda Hanna, and Syrian director Nagi Teameh. Iranian filmmaker Ali Asgari will serve as the Jury President for the World Cinema Competition. French journalist Barbara Lorey will take on the role of Jury President for the Kurdish Cinema Competition. Other Jury Presidents include Thomas Lier, university professor and head of the education and discourse department of the Goethe-Institut from Germany, for the documentaries competition and Indian actor Gouri Nair for the shorts competition.
In recent years, the International Federation of Film Critics has played a vital role in organising the Duhok International Film Festival. For the 2024 edition, Ukrainian director, journalist, and film critic Elena Rubashevska, Turkish researcher Ergin Opengin, and Canadian film critic Jim Slotek will represent the federation at Duhok.
