“It’s an extraordinary and exciting relationship that is being built here between our industry and the people of Kurdistan,” said Hunt. “We hope that the films we are screening will inspire and entertain in a way that will encourage local filmmakers and artists to engage with cinema and show us their own stories.”
Bowers noted: “The Kurdish people are emerging from a period of isolation. We want Erbil to be seen as the type of place that can host a film festival: we want to put the Kurdistan Region on the map.”
The festival also enjoys the support of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
“Erbil and other Kurdish cities had cinemas at one time and the older generation used to enjoy watching films on the big screen,” said Kurdistan’s U.K. rep Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman. “But the cinemas were shut down at times of war and eventually fell into disuse. The new generation is hungry to see good films and to have a cinema-going experience.”
Plans are afoot to build a duo of cinema complexes in Ebril in the coming years in two recently opened shopping malls.