The two Iranian products pulled out from the event because it seems that the LKFF promotes and highlights controversial issues in the context of cinema.
LKFF implicitly addresses the phenomenon of separatism and tries to present an inverted reading of Kurdish culture and identity as the oldest ethnic group in Iran and the region.
“Sky Sun, Tile Sun”
The six-minute animated movie is about a village where people live a happy life until the day when the sun breaks due to bombardment and it becomes dark everywhere. They help each other build a new sun for their sky.
“Sky Sun, Tile Sun” is a symbolic animation without dialogue. The animation has 12 characters, all of whom are considered to be the main characters because they work together to rebuild their world.
The animation is been inspired by the tiled designs of the Qajar-era (1789–1925) Moaven al-Molk Tekyeh in the western Kermanshah province as well as Tehran’s Golestan Palace.
Parts of the areas of both buildings have been used in the film. The tilework of buildings is remarkable, unique, and exceptional with very beautiful designs and 100% natural colors used in them.
Arjang’s previous animation “My Sardasht”, about Kajal, a carpet weaver, who is the only survivor of her family after Iraq’s chemical attack on Iranian town Sardasht in 1987, has been awarded in many national and international festivals.
"Children of the Night"
Produced by the Center for Expansion of Documentary and Experimental Cinema, the 83-minute ‘Children of the Night’ narrates the life story of soldier kids in wars.
In a refugee camp in Hatay, southeast Turkey in 2017, a small gang of unaccompanied boys, aged between 13 and 15, have formed a de facto family. But these children, from Pakistan originally, are not just the victims of war — they are some of its most ruthless perpetrators, vulnerable kids weaponized by Daesh in madrassas that churn out “bombs of anger”.
Children of Night, in its world premiere, entered the documentary competition section of the 25th BUSAN International Film Festival in South Korea.
It was then screened in the official section of the 50th Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.
Launched in 2001, the London Kurdish Film Festival (LKFF) brings together films from Kurdistan and the rest of the world to film audiences in London. The festival has so far held 11 editions.
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