Message from the President of the Festival

Posted on November 9, 2016

 

 

 

Message from the President of the Festival

 

After another successful festival, whose organisation defied all challenges, we feel  renewed  energy and ever-growing hope  for the future.

We are very pleased that the festival is becoming  known , trusted and apreciated very widely, on all continents, as far away as Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Korea, China and Russia, as well as in Europe and the Arab world. Now that our 8^th edition is over, we continue to work hard in a very difficult and dangerous environment towards the goal of our creative project, which is to organise this festival year after year, as a bridge to the cultures of the world, and as an ambassador of Iraqi culture to the region and the world.

This year we will celebrate the occasion of the The Iraqi  Marshlands Inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List , we will have  a special section on film ,   environment and marshes . we will show a a selected films on this topic  .

This edition is also a dedicated  to the memory  of the great Iraq actor Youssef al-Ani, who passed away recently and we will celebrate also the great Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda

A panorama from different countries under the title : Made In .. will be for the 1^st time in our festival . Films from Iran , The Netherlands , Poland and Russia will be shown in this section .

This edition we will have a fruitful  collaboration with IDFA , the Documentary film festival in Amsterdam , with Krakow film foundation in Poland , aug & ohr in Berlin and many other institutions.

The Festival has become the only sustainable cultural action in Iraq. Yet over the last 13 years no politicians or parties, from inside or outside the government, have supported the Festival nor attended any of our activities. It is strange, but it appears that culture and cinema is not their priority or responsibility. We have been left to face all the challenges on our own, especially the financial ones. But no challenges have stopped us in the past nor will stop us in the future.

 

Finally, I would like to thank from the heart all my colleagues and all those who supported us and faced the challenges with us and coped with the difficulties of a country still suffering from war and violence every day. I would like to thank my assistants and all those who encouraged and supported us- the media, journalists, volunteers- as well as  the general public whose praise and encouragement is so important for a Festival. I would also like to thank all the participants and winners of the Festival – I wish you every success and see you next year, Inshallah!

 

Taher Alwan

President of the Festival

Taher (at) baghdadfilmfest.com

 

 

رسالة من رئيس المهرجان