Location: Erbil – Iraq
Language: Arabic
Voice: natural
Duration: 00:06:51
Source: A24
Restrictions: A24 Clients
Dateline: 03-02-2022
Storyline
The activities of the 6th Anti-Terror Film Festival wrapped up in Erbil. It coincides with the anniversary of the terrorist bombing that hit Erbil in 2004. The 6th edition was marked with high attendance, as it screened movies of high quality. The festival, which is the only event concerned with terrorism-related movies, gained popularity at the local, Arab and regional levels. The aim is to reject extremism and terrorist ideology while spreading peace and coexistence through cinema, a means by which a humanitarian message can be sent to all. For his part, the director of the festival, Ayad Jabbar, said that “about 38 Iraqi movies were screened along with 6 foreign movies that competed on 7 awards, adding that the panel of judges include specialized professors headed by director Nasser Hassan, and Joanna Saeed, Bashir Al Majid, Bahaa Al-Kazemi, Wathab Al-Sakr, and Ali Al-Bayati. The panel’s head indicated that the festival theme ‘terrorism’ isn’t only confined to political terrorism but also to its ideology. He expressed his hopes that upcoming festivals would receive much more support that will allow broader foreign participation paving the way for youths to achieve their ambitions.
Shotlist
-SOUNDBITE (Nasser Hassan- head of the festival’s panel)
The sixth edition of the festival held in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, screened 40 movies from Iraq, and only one movie from Syria. Unfortunately, Arab and international participation wasn’t remarkable. This is due to the outbreak of Covid -19 and the lack of funding to cover directors’ and artists’ travel expenses. Lack of continuous support for this festival is another reason. We hope that the upcoming years will be better. Furthermore, the festival’s theme “terrorism ” does not mean only political terrorism related to ISIS, but also intellectual terrorism. Many directors focused on societal and intellectual terrorism. There were various films, and in fact, there were good films, average and below average. Moreover, I’m always keen to let youths participate by screening their movies in this festival
-SOUNDBITE (, Ayad Jabbar- the director of the festival)
This marks the 6th Anti-Terror Film Festival, held in Erbil. The festival coincides with the anniversary of the terrorist bombing that hit Erbil in 2004 particularly the headquarters of the Kurdish parties, the Democratic Party, and the Patriotic Kurdistan. The festival came to honor martyrs of these bombings. Movies this year addressed terrorism, violence, including domestic and societal violence. Moreover, there was international participation in four important films. However, initially, we were against international films participation, but the panel decided to allocate a special international award, and we also have 7 other awards, decided by the panel. About 38 films participated, including documentaries, short movies, animation movies from central and southern Iraq, and also from the Kurdistan Region. There are also great movies produced by students. Remarkably, the quality of these movies was high. The festival was marked with the presence of artists and a jury that I personally selected including professors Nasser Hassan, Wathab Al-Sager, Bashir Al-Majed, and Bahaa Al-Kazemi
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