Panel 2 | AKFF

Amsterdam Koerdisch Film Festival

Exploring Freedom in Bashur - Politics, History and Cinema

Panel:
Zana Kurda
Shawkat Amin Korki (Kick-off Kirkuk)
Shamal Aba Rash (1988)

Moderator: Reber Dosky

This year, we’re excited to host a panel where we will explore the meaning of freedom in Bashur. We will look at its start, development, history and politics. Moreover, we will discuss how this relative freedom has affected Kurdish Cinema. We will be joined on the panel by Zana Kurda, KRG’s advisor on EU affairs, the acclaimed Kurdish director, Shawkat Amin Korki, known for Crossing the Dust (2006), Kick Off Kirkuk (2009), and Memories on Stone (2014) – films that fictionally portray real and defining moments in the history of Başûri (South) Kurdistan. We will also be welcoming renowned actors Shadan Fouad and Shamal Aba Rash who is featuring in the AKFF opening film 1988 (2024), one of the first feature fiction films about the Halabja genocide. 

We’ll examine how the development of the KRG and its politics have influenced Kurdish cinema. We will look at the KRG in the past, present and future and explore freedom and its limitations. Join us in this exciting conversation as we discuss the meaning of freedom, how to preserve it and how to expand it.