Kurdistan: Last News

The International Documentary Association is announcing an open call for applications to its flagship Enterprise Documentary Fund and the Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund, with more than $500,000 to be awarded.

“Million Years Ago.”In an injunction filed Friday in Rio de Janeiro’s sixth commercial court, Brazilian judge Victor Torres ordered that the track off Adele’s “25” album must be banned nationwide from streaming services and other global platforms, according to the Agence France Presse.The order reportedly threatens the Brazilian subsidiaries of Adele’s labels, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music, with a fine of $8,000 “per act of non-compliance.”Judge Torres claimed that Adele’s song — which she co-wrote with music producer Greg Kurstin — lifts from Martinho Da Vila’s samba classic “Mulheres.” Toninho Geraes, who wrote the Brazilian song, originally sued Adele, 36, for plagiarism in 2021.In the injunction, Adele’s labels were ordered to stop “immediately and globally, from using, reproducing, editing, distributing or commercializing” her ballad. “International producers and artists who have Brazilian music ‘on their radar’ for possible parasitic use will think twice, given this decision,” Geraes’ attorney, Fredimio Trotta, told the AFP.Sony and Universal can reportedly appeal the order.Adele’s “Million Years Ago” was previously accused of plagiarism in 2015 by fans of the late Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya.

Richard Kuipers The shattering of a childhood dream is symbolic of the cruelly contorted fate of a nation in “Baghdad Messi.” Kurdish-Belgian filmmaker Sahim Omar Kalifa has expanded his much-acclaimed 2012 short into an affecting social drama that unfolds amid violence and fear in Iraq, 2009, during the second Gulf War. Centered on a soccer-mad young boy whose family is forced to move from the capital to a small village after his leg is blown off in a terrorist attack, “Baghdad Messi” has an almost documentary-like realism that makes compelling viewing of Iraq’s international feature Oscar submission.

A veteran's service medals and jewellery have been found, five years after they were stolen from his home - with his watch turning up 300 miles from the site of the theft.

Marta Balaga Erol Mintaş has revealed the cast for his upcoming feature “Earth Song.” Dilan Gwyn (“Da Vinci’s Demons,” “Dracula Untold”), Ali Seçkiner Alıcı (“Burning Days”), Feyyaz Duman (“Yalan”) and Zenan Tünc will star in the film written by Mintaş and Mikko Viljanen, which also debuts first-look photos. Previously, Mintaş directed Duman in his debut “Song of My Mother,” awarded at Sarajevo. Produced by Mete Sasioglu and Mintaş for Sons of Lumière, “Earth Song” is co-produced by Anna Blom for Jamedia Production (Finland) and Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer for Elemag Pictures (Germany).

A travel YouTuber visited Blackpool and branded it 'England's roughest seaside town'.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “Amedspor” and “Lover, Not a Fighter” were among the winners at the awards for Eastern Promises, Karlovy Vary Film Festival‘s industry section, on Tuesday. The Works in Progress Visual Post-Production Award went to Turkey’s “Amedspor,” directed by Rezan Yesilbas and produced by Ahmet Gurata.

 Karlovy Vary has revealed winners for its market and industry sections: Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch & Intensive Queer, Works in Development – KVIFF Talents, and First Cut+ Works in Progress.

A nine-year-old girl remains in hospital fighting for her life a week after a shooting in Hackney, police have said. Detectives are investigating a potential link to Turkish “organised criminal networks”.

A 'wonderful' mechanic whose death sparked a murder probe took his own life, a coroner has ruled.

Annika Pham Rome-based sales outfit Intramovies has picked up international rights to “Uncle Jens,” the directorial debut of Norwegian helmer of Kurdish origin Brwa Vahabpour, credited for the hit series “Countrymen.” Renée Hansen Mlodyszewski, associate producer on “The Worst Person in the World,” is producing for True Content Production, the Oslo branch of Scandi group True Content Entertainment, headed by Yellow Bird founder Ole Søndberg. Anda Ionescu of Bucharest-based Tangaj Production serves as co-producer.

Shargh and Entekhab.State media reported that his sentence could be reduced by a pardoning committee if he appeals again.Salehi had spent time in prison last year and was briefly released, but according to witness testimonies, he was violently rearrested and sent him to prison in Isfahan. This happened after he revealed that he was tortured and placed in solitary confinement for 252 days following his arrest in October 2022, UN experts said in a statement published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).Salehi isn’t the only artist to have been targeted for showing opposition to the government.

Sharareh Drury Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi has been sentenced to death by an Iranian revolutionary court over songs that criticized the Iranian government, according to his lawyer and state media. “An order for the execution of Toomaj Salehi has been issued,” Salehi’s lawyer Amir Raesian tweeted Wednesday.

A family-of-five fear for their safety after battling with damp in their Glasgow flat for a year. Kharman Ahmed, husband Hiwa Khalid Saleem, and their three children aged five, 10 and 13, have aired health concerns as they slammed authorities over a lack of action in their Castlemilk home.

A suspected people smuggler has been arrested in Stockport as part of a series of dawn raids carried out by the Home Office. Four men, who are believed to have smuggled 50 people into the UK illegally, were detained on Wednesday (April 18).

Three hundred and fifty people gathered to acknowledge a fearless adventurer dedicated to helping those wronged. The funeral of former British paratrooper, Daniel Burke, took place earlier this month.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Fauda” actor and singer Idan Amedi, who joined the Israeli forces to fight against Hamas in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack and was seriously injured on Monday, has come out of surgery and regained consciousness, Variety has confirmed. The 35-year-old was airlifted to a hospital on Monday after being wounded by shrapnel while serving as an IDF reservist in the Combat Engineering Corps.

Marta Balaga Following musical sequences in her latest doc “Vika!,” Polish director Agnieszka Zwiefka will turn to animation for an upcoming project under the working title “Runa.” “What can I say? I really like fusion cuisine,” she laughs. “I like hybrid films, because this division between documentary and fiction is completely pointless. I see documentary as a very capacious bag.

The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded today to Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist whose “fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all” was cited by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Over 100 people have died and more than 200 are injured after a horror fire at a wedding venue in Iraq.

Naman Ramachandran MetFilm Sales has picked up worldwide rights (excluding U.K.) and will handle international sales on acclaimed documentary “Name Me Lawand” from “Gangs of London” producer Pulse Films. Directed by Edward Lovelace (“The Possibilities Are Endless”), the documentary, filmed over four years, follows Lawand Hamad Amin, who spent his early years in Iraq unable to hear or communicate. His profound deafness meant he could not learn language, and with no access to a deaf education, Lawand grew isolated and trapped inside himself.