IRAQ’S INVISIBLE BEAUTY

Director: JURGEN BUEDTS-SAHIM OMER KALIFA

Time: 90’

Year of Production: 2022

 Language: EREBÎ

Subtitle: TIRKÎ-KURDÎ

Synopsis

Latif al Ani, born in Baghdad in 1932 is known as the ‘father of Iraqi photography’. His work forms a unique visual archive of Iraq during its heydays from the 1950s to 1970s and are a profound insight into the country, mostly unknown to Westerners and even Iraqi people themselves. When Saddam took power, Al Ani stopped photographing. In 2015, he received the prestigious Prince Claus Award, awarded annually by the Dutch Royal Family.

Biography

Sahim Omar Kalifa

He is a Belgian-Kurdish filmmaker based in Belgium. In 2001, he came to Belgium, and in 2008 he got his Master’s degree in filmmaking at Sint-Lukas Film School, Brussels. Kalifa has won 96 international awards for his short films. Baghdad Messi was shortlisted for the 87th Academy Awards, and ‘Bad Hunter’ was shortlisted for the 88th Academy Awards. Sahim was chosen in Istanbul as the Best Kurdish film director and later that year became a voting member for the Academy Awards.

Jurgen Buedts

He is a writer, director, producer. With his company Las Belgas, established in 2013, they are able to attract international talents and create award-winning projects worldwide. Projects he produced, co-produced, wrote or directed include high-end films but also artistic low budget arthouse projects, both fiction and documentary. His work is seen on big and small screens and his network includes high-end filmmakers, broadcasters, producers or networks worldwide.