Due to the challenges of COVID-19, many film festivals around the world have either been postponed or cancelled and in-turn unable to host physical festival events.
Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival will be part of the 12th edition of LKFF 2021. Celebrating the 12th edition of the London Kurdish Film Festival and highlighting Kurdish cinema with a special online edition that will take place from 16 - 27 April 2021.
Together with 10 Kurdish Film Festivals from all over the world we stand for unity and invite you to join our celebration.
We are partnering with 10 other renowned Kurdish film festivals around the globe to showcase a united programme of films. Due to this unique partnership, Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival will be part of the 12th edition of LKFF introducing the first-ever collaborative Global Kurdish Film Festival.
My Kurdistan / Kurdistana min
To reflect the natural content of this edition, the theme of this year is My Kurdistan / Kurdistana min. Kurdish cinema has grown exponentially in the last couple of decades. However, the films and talent remain under-exposed and under-represented, with films that many find difficult to access or have not been able to view since their initial release.
Therefore, we have embraced the circumstances of this year by grabbing this opportunity to create a library of Kurdish films and make it as accessible as possible, in-turn establishing and defining the Kurdish national cinema. We will be screening two defined programmes, the first will be a New Selection Film Programme, exhibiting short and feature-length fiction, documentary and animation films. The second will be a carefully curated showcase of the Best of Kurdish Cinema within the last 20 years, which will include feature-length fiction and documentary film titles.
This is the first time an exhibition at this scale will be showcasing such a historical programme, followed by exclusive Q&A’s, panel discussions and masterclass workshops with a diverse set of film industry experts.
Competitions & Awards
Participating in this edition will be two panels of Kurdish and non-Kurdish film Jurors from different parts of the world and who are active in the international film sector. This year the Jury will be granting the New Selection Films the following Awards in competition:
ROJAZER Best Feature Fiction Film Award
Mehmet Aksoy Best Feature Documentary Award
Yilmaz Güney Best Short Fiction Film Award
LKFF Honorary Film Award
Best Short Documentary Award
Best Actress Film Award
Best Actor Film Award
An additional award has been created for the audience to vote for their favourite classic film from the Best of Kurdish Cinema film programme:
Audience Choice Best Film Award
This Global Kurdish Film Festival is in partnership with the following Kurdish film festival organisations from around the globe:
Amed Kurdish Film Festival (Middle East Cinema Academy )
Barcelona Kurdish Film Festival (Mostra De Cinema Kurd De Barcelona)
Hamburg Kurdish Film Festival (Kurdisches Filmfestival Hamburg)
Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival
Mesopotamia Film Festival (Mezopotamya Film Festival)
Moscow Kurdish Film Festival
New York Kurdish Film & Cultural Festival
Rêtaw Film Distribution (Bilav Kariya Fîlman Ya Rêtaw)
Rojava International Film Festival
Slemani International Film Festival
With the festival activities kicking off from 21st March 2021, we warmly invites our global audience to experience and connect with the most accessible version of the festival yet and enjoy 12 days filled with a rich selection of films and interactive activities across our programme. We look forward to connecting with you all then!
Stay tuned for further information about the online launch of the Global Kurdish Film Festival Programme and streaming platform by checking out our latest updates on our website.