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Memories on Stone

Fall Grant 2012 - Production Stage

Synopsis

‘You have to be crazy to make a film in Kurdistan.’ So says one of the characters in Shawkat Amin Korki’s clever and engaging ‘Memories on Stone’, about fictional film director Hossein Hassan’s attempt to make ‘Anfal’, a story about the genocidal campaign waged by Saddam Hussein on the Kurds of Iraq. And indeed, this film-shoot-within-a-film is persistently plagued by Murphy’s Law – ‘anything that can go wrong, will go wrong’ – as the director and his crew battle a lack of funds, an egotistical pop star, in-family conflicts and even trigger-happy border guards in order to get their film made. They are driven by their passion to preserve their history – but will that passion be enough to get the film on the big screen?

Amin Korki very nimbly walks the line between comedy and tragedy in his third feature film. He maintains a light tone for the main thrust of his narrative, occasionally straying into moments of wonderful physical comedy and romance. But the film’s buoyant structure never forgets its dark and heavy cargo, and the story is repeatedly punctured by reminders of the Anfal campaign. At its core, ‘Memories on Stone’ is a powerful demand that the victims of Saddam’s ethnic cleansing be honoured, and that their terrible fate never be forgotten.

Credits

Director

Shawkat Amin Korki

Screenwriter

Shawkat Amin Korki, Mehmet Aktaş

Producer

Mehmet Aktaş

About the Director

Shawkat Amin Korki was born in 1973. Originally from Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan, he and his family fled Iraq’s military dictatorship to Iran in 1975, where they lived in exile for 25 years. There, Korki studied cinema. Following many award-winning short films, he gained international recognition with the completion of his debut feature film in Iraqi Kurdistan, ‘Crossing the Dust’ (2006), and his follow-up feature, ‘Kick Off’ (2009). He now lives and works in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan.

Awards and Festival History

Festivals

Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2015 (USA)
Göteborg International Film Festival 2015 (Sweden)
Tromso International Film Festival 2015 (Norway)
Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) 2014 (Australia)
Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival 2014 (Austr

Awards

Won Best Film from the Arab World at Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2014 (UAE)
Won the Unesco Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2014 (Australia)
Won Best Director awardat Cinedays Skopje,Festival of European Cinema 2014 (Macedonia)

Contacts

• Main Contact

  Shawkat Amin Korki

  Company: 

  mitosfilm-iraq

  Phone: 

  +9647503136447

  Email: 

  aktas@mitosfilm.com

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