The narrator of this short film is an elderly man who for 65 years played the shamshal, an ancient Kurdish wind instrument, in the Zagros mountains of Rojhelat. The film is divided into seven musical maqāms, or traditional sets of pitches and motifs used in Middle Eastern musical composition and performance. The seven-fold structure also implies a spiritual sequence. The cinematography is lavishly beautiful, each frame like a painting.

Director’s biography:

Perwîz Rostemî, born in 1977 in Oraman Takht, studied painting at university. In 2001 he made his first film, My Shoes. Since then he has made many more short films, including Pachal (2011), The Melody of Stone (2011), The Scarecrows Also Die (2012), Neighbors of the Sky (2013), and Wa Zaban (2013),

Seven Symphonies of the Zagros won Best Short Kurdish Film at the 8th Duhok International Film Festival in 2021.

Film trailer:

Watch the trailer for this film here.

In 2022 the NYKCC interviewed director Perwîz Rostemî here. He greets NYKFF7 here.