The fourth edition of the annual New York Kurdish Film Festival was held online from November 13 to 15, 2020. It offered a range of films, fiction and documentary, that speak to the condition of Kurdish people in Kurdistan and elsewhere in the world.

At the opening of each day of the festival, a different person delivered welcoming remarks:  Ilham Bakir of the Middle East Cinema Academy Association; Avesta Kadir and Ferhan Sterk of the London Kurdish Film Festival; and Yousif Ishmael of Washington Kurdish Institute

The films screened were:

Ah, Asuman!, directed by Ümit Kivanç, based on Demirtas book (2019, short)

Alone with: Hussein (Smko), directed by Ben Vogel (2018, short, documentary)

Among the Ruins (Yıkıntılar Arasında), directed by Özcan Alper (2018, short)

Baghdad Messi, directed by Sahim Omar Kalifa (2012, short, drama)

A Dance for Death, directed by Zanyar Azizi (2019, documentary)

Dance, directed by Baran M. Reihani

Don’t Cry Mother, I Am in the Better Place (Ağlama Anne Güzel Yerdeyim), directed by Ümit Kivanç (2012, documentary)

The Flowers of Rojava: A Feminist Revolution in Northern Syria, directed by Selene Verri and Magali Magnin, followed by Q&A with Selene Verri (2020, documentary)

A Ghost Wanders Around Diyarbakir, directed by Özcan Kucuk

Harmony for After War, directed by Pablo Tosco and Migue Roth (2019, short, drama)

The Heavy Burden (Barê Giran), directed by Yilmaz Özdil (2020, short, drama)

Heritage, directed by Baran Reihani (2019, short, animation)

Home, directed by Felat Erkozan

Horse, directed by Rasoul Ahmadi (short)

In Between, directed by Ali Kemal Cinar (2018, drama)

Land of the Heroes, directed by Sahim Omar Kalifa (2011, short, drama)

Last Breath, directed by Foad Mahmoudi

Last Dance of Kocho, artwork by Lukman Ahmad (2017, short, animation)

Life Gone with the Wind, directed by Slavash Saedpanah and Mid Gharibi (short)

The Mandarin Tree, directed by Cengiz Akaygün (2018, short, drama)

The Memory, directed by Burhan Ates

Mountain, directed by Teymour Ghaderi (2019, short)

Outcast, directed by Erhan Karahan

Pace, directed by Rezzan Bayram (2019, short)

The Pattern, directed by Azad Jannati (2018, short, animation)

Payizok, directed by Numan Yigit

Red Shoes, directed by Numan Yigit

Rojava, sound by Daniel-Tony Marques Barreiro (animation, short)

Shadow of Water, directed by Metin Yoksu

Silence of a Dream, directed by Rohan Merwan (short)

Silent Light House, written and directed by Farshad Qaffari and Payam Laghari (2018, short)

Slaughter, directed by Ako Zandkarimi and Saman Hosseinpour (2018, short)

The State We Are In, directed by Savaş Boyraz and Mahkum Abi

There Was a Country, directed by Hebun Polat (2018, short, drama)

Additional events:

Basak Demirtaş read a message from her husband, imprisoned HDP former co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş

Ferhat Encu, former HDP deputy, discussed the Roboski Massacre and the long struggle for justice

Ava Homa talked about her novel Daughters of Smoke and Fire (2020)

Behrouz Boochani discussed the role of literature in oppressed societies and diaspora

Bakhtiar Khalili discussed Kat Film Distribution Agency

Hussein Smko performed a dance

Kijwar Karaman gave a musical performance

Mirza Metin talked about “Kurdish Resistance and the Dramaturgy of Fire”

Sherko Bektas read Kurdish poetry