Kurdish film director Zaman wins award
NEWS DESK (DİHA) - Kurdish film director Hisham Zaman has won the 'Dragon Award Best Nordic Film' for his film, 'The Letter to the King' at the Gothenburg Film Festival, the second year in succession that he has won this award.
'The Letter to the King' is a story of a day trip to Oslo by a group of asylum seekers from different countries, including children and the elderly. The jury consisted of Chad's first and only film director, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, producer Agnes Johansen (Iceland), producer Kalle Løchen (Norway), director Anna Odell (Sweden), the actress Maria Sid (Finland) and the cinematographer Erik Molberg Hansen (Denmark).
They described 'The Letter to the King' "as a film that takes us to a subculture that is not very well-known. It tells us about people stuck in some kind of no man’s land. It’s a film that is compassionate and honest in its presentation of human existence. To tell a story with multiple characters is a difficult task, and we appreciate the way all the pieces are put together." The film was shot entirely in Norway. Director Emma Dante won the Ingmar Bergman debutant award for her film 'A Street in Palermo' (Via Castellana bandiera). An everyday incident grows into a matter of life and death when two mortally determined women fight for supremacy in a Sicilian neighbourhood. In Emma Dante's divine comedy, Hell is just around the corner.
Hopelessness and lack of communication
Jury member Mahamat-Saleh Haroun said that three of the eight films at this year's festival were particularly good, adding that in spite of them all being Scandinavian films they were very different. Haroun added that the films common facet was their emphasis on hopelessness and lack of communication, saying: "I don't know to what degree these films reflect the reality of life in northern Europe."
Hisham Zaman
Zaman, who has won the major award at the Gothenburg Film Festival for two years in a row, is the child of a Kurdish family who migrated to Norway. Zaman graduated from the Norwegian National Film School in 2004. He first came to prominence with the short film 'Bawke', which tells the story of the difficulties experienced by a Kurdish asylum seeker and his young son in Norway. It broke all records by winning 40 awards in 50 festivals all over the world.
(nt)
