Explore each day’s lineup using the tabs below.
Opening Night — Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Village East by Angelika · Theater 1
@ 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM
5 min
Listen to our National Anthem online, then stand with us in person as we sing it together.
7:15 pm –
7:20 pm
Opening Ceremony
10 min
NYKFF Co-Director, NYKCC President
7:20 pm –
7:30 pm
Opening Ceremony
Governor of Slêmanî, Bashuri Kurdistan
7:30 pm –
7:40 pm
Opening Ceremony
73 min
Genre: Feature Documentary
A woman cares for an injured stork while her daughter prepares to migrate to Britain.
Director: Hemen Khaledi
Region: Rojhilati Kurdistan
8:20 pm –
9:35 pm
Screening
5 min
Listen to our National Anthem online, then stand with us in person as we sing it together.
7:15 pm –
7:20 pm
Feature Documentary •
73 min
A woman cares for an injured stork while her daughter prepares to migrate to Britain.
8:20 pm –
9:35 pm
Day 2 — Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Village East by Angelika · Theater 2
@ 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
40 min
Genre: Student
Metin is to teach in Şırnak, but his students grew up speaking Kurdish, not Turkish.
Director: Erdal Salihoğlu
Region: Bakuri Kurdistan
6:00 pm –
6:40 pm
Screening
Director: Edris Mahmoudian
Region: Rojhilati Kurdistan
6:40 pm –
7:00 pm
Screening
12 min
Genre: Short Documentary
A community college student and skateboarder fights for accurate and inclusive Middle Eastern studies.
Director: Mehra Marzbani
Region: USA
7:20 pm –
7:35 pm
Screening
35 min
Panelists: Mehra Marzbani and Azad Azizyan
7:55 pm –
8:30 pm
Panel Discussion
Director: Adar Baran Değer
Region: Bakuri Kurdistan
8:30 pm –
8:45 pm
Screening
Director: Hevar Omar
Region: Bashuri Kurdistan
8:45 pm –
9:00 pm
Screening
Student •
40 min
Metin is to teach in Şırnak, but his students grew up speaking Kurdish, not Turkish.
6:00 pm –
6:40 pm
Short Fiction •
21 min
A woman is about to give birth to her ninth child.
6:40 pm –
7:00 pm
Short Documentary •
12 min
A community college student and skateboarder fights for accurate and inclusive Middle Eastern studies.
7:20 pm –
7:35 pm
Mobile •
13 min
A solitary man meets a group of children who change his life.
8:45 pm –
9:00 pm
Day 3 — Thursday, October 1, 2026
Village East by Angelika · Theater 2
@ 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
91 min
Genre: Feature documentary
After Mosul is liberated from Islamic State, its resilient people rebuild the city and reclaim their identity through cultural expression.
Director: Zaradasht Ahmed
Region: Bashuri Kurdistan
6:00 pm –
7:30 pm
Screening
Participants: Ambassador Lukman Al-Faily and Xeyal Qertel
7:30 pm –
8:00 pm
Panel Discussion
18 min 52 sec
Genre: Short fiction
The daughter of a Halabja survivor has a strong passion for researching chemical substances.
Director: Sonya Jalil Zangana
Region: Bashuri Kurdistan
8:00 pm –
8:15 pm
Screening
15 min
Genre: Short fiction
In Mardin, Syriac scholboy Gabriel and his friends prepare for the school’s Local Goods Week.
Director: Rojda Ezgi Oral
Region: Bakuri Kurdistan
8:45 pm –
9:00 pm
Screening
Feature documentary •
91 min
After Mosul is liberated from Islamic State, its resilient people rebuild the city and reclaim their identity through cultural expression.
6:00 pm –
7:30 pm
Short fiction •
18 min 52 sec
The daughter of a Halabja survivor has a strong passion for researching chemical substances.
8:00 pm –
8:15 pm
Short fiction •
15 min
In Mardin, Syriac scholboy Gabriel and his friends prepare for the school’s Local Goods Week.
8:45 pm –
9:00 pm
Day 4 — Friday, October 2, 2026
Village East by Angelika · Theater 2
@ 3:00 PM – 10:00 PM
22 min
Genre: Short fiction
A glimpse into struggles around mental illness, often silenced in Arab culture.
Director: Darine Hotait
Region: USA
3:00 pm –
3:22 pm
Screening
66 min
Genre: Short fiction
A documentary about Cigerxwîn, 1930s founder of Kurdish literature
Director: Esin Akgül
Region: Netherlands, Bakuri Kurdistan
4:10 pm –
5:15 pm
Screening
64 min
Genre: Feature documentary
dreams A man dreams of opening a boutique hotel on Lake Van where his mother can find peace.
Director: Kenan Diler
Region: Bakuri Kurdistan
5:45 pm –
6:45 pm
Screening
85 min
Genre: Feature documentary
The five-year journey of seven teenage Yazidi girls who survived the 2014 ISIS genocide.
Director: Shilan Saadi
Region: Rojhilati Kurdistan
6:50 pm –
8:15 pm
Screening
Director: Noor Omer Ahmed
Region: Bashuri Kurdistan
9:00 pm –
9:10 pm
Screening
9 min
Genre: Short fiction
A woman flees her abusive husband, seeking refuge in the long-abandoned house where she grew up.
Director: Shko J. Aziz
Region: United Kingdom
9:10 pm –
9:20 pm
Screening
Director: Trifa Ibrahim Hassan
Region: Bashuri Kurdistan
9:20 pm –
9:35 pm
Screening
Director: Slavash Vaziri
Region: Rojhilati Kurdistan
9:35 pm –
9:45 pm
Screening
9 min
Genre: Short fiction
Isolation can lead to mental distress, but writing and creativity offer a way out.
Director: Sharo Shorsh Mohammed
Region: Bashuri Kurdistan
9:45 pm –
9:55 pm
Screening
Short fiction •
22 min
A glimpse into struggles around mental illness, often silenced in Arab culture.
3:00 pm –
3:22 pm
Short fiction •
66 min
A documentary about Cigerxwîn, 1930s founder of Kurdish literature
4:10 pm –
5:15 pm
Feature documentary •
64 min
dreams A man dreams of opening a boutique hotel on Lake Van where his mother can find peace.
5:45 pm –
6:45 pm
Feature documentary •
85 min
The five-year journey of seven teenage Yazidi girls who survived the 2014 ISIS genocide.
6:50 pm –
8:15 pm
Student •
17 min 39 sec
The high price of female illiteracy and early marriage
9:00 pm –
9:10 pm
Short fiction •
9 min
A woman flees her abusive husband, seeking refuge in the long-abandoned house where she grew up.
9:10 pm –
9:20 pm
Short fiction •
9 min
Isolation can lead to mental distress, but writing and creativity offer a way out.
9:45 pm –
9:55 pm
Day 5 — Saturday, October 3, 2026
Village East by Angelika · Theater 2
@ 3:00 PM – 10:00 PM
83 min
Genre: Short fiction
A meditation on a complicated father-daughter relationship and a tribute to the immigrant working class.
Director: Karla Murthy
Region: USA
3:00 pm –
4:25 pm
Screening
Hosts: Beyan Saleh and Ron Butler
5:20 pm –
6:20 pm
Panel Discussion
Director: Ali Kemal Çinar
Region: Bakuri Kurdistan
6:40 pm –
7:45 pm
Screening
Hosts: To be announced
8:05 pm –
8:45 pm
Panel Discussion
9 min
Genre: Student
A cinema student must decide whether to give up her studies and return to her hometown, Afrin.
Director: Mediya Mohammad
Region: Rojava
8:45 pm –
8:55 pm
Screening
Director: Zevîn Ebas
Region: Rojava
8:55 pm –
9:05 pm
Screening
13 min
Genre: Animation
A middle-aged man who is a projectionist of a small-town cinema meets his teenage love after many years.
Director: Hazhir As’adi
Region: Rojhilati Kurdistan
9:05 pm –
9:20 pm
Screening
20 min
Genre: Student
In Iceland, a brilliant but disturbed serial killer creates grotesque works of “art.”
Director: Hama Sardar Sami
Region: Iceland
9:20 pm –
9:40 pm
Screening
Director: Sabah Mohammadi
Region: Rojhilati Kurdistan
9:40 pm –
9:55 pm
Screening
Short fiction •
83 min
A meditation on a complicated father-daughter relationship and a tribute to the immigrant working class.
3:00 pm –
4:25 pm
Student •
9 min
A cinema student must decide whether to give up her studies and return to her hometown, Afrin.
8:45 pm –
8:55 pm
Animation •
13 min
A middle-aged man who is a projectionist of a small-town cinema meets his teenage love after many years.
9:05 pm –
9:20 pm
Student •
20 min
In Iceland, a brilliant but disturbed serial killer creates grotesque works of “art.”
9:20 pm –
9:40 pm
Closing Night — Sunday, October 4, 2026
Village East by Angelika · Theater 2
@ 3:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Directors: Yılmaz Güney and Şerif Gören
Region: Bakuri Kurdistan
3:00 pm –
5:00 pm
Screening
12 min
Genre: Short Fiction
Following an accident in a garden, a woman discovers a scar on her husband’s back, which leads to questions.
Director: Mir Mengi
Region: Bakuri (North) Kurdistan
5:20 pm –
5:35 pm
Screening
98 min
Genre: Feature fiction
A Kurdish man living comfortably in Europe receives a visit from his Rojhilati uncle.
Director: Brwa Vahabpour
Region: Norway
6:25 pm –
8:05 pm
Screening
Hosts: Halime Aktürk (tentative)
8:05 pm –
8:35 pm
Live Session
Short Fiction •
12 min
Following an accident in a garden, a woman discovers a scar on her husband’s back, which leads to questions.
5:20 pm –
5:35 pm
Feature fiction •
98 min
A Kurdish man living comfortably in Europe receives a visit from his Rojhilati uncle.
6:25 pm –
8:05 pm