فەرهەنگی
Regarded as one of Norway’s leading auteur directors, Zaman is best known for his films exploring themes related to migration, identity and belonging. His previous features Before Snowfall (2013) and Letter to the King (2014) both won the prestigious Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the Gothenburg International Film Festival.
Zaman’s latest film is one of his boldest and most artistically ambitious yet. Set in a refugee centre absurdly located in remote northern Norway, “a Happy Day” is a fictional story about a trio of teenage boys who are waiting to be sent out of the country on their 18th birthdays. Determined to stay together, the three friends come up with a plan to escape. But when a troubled young girl shows up at the center and falls in love with one of the guys, the trio’s escape plan – and their friendship – are suddenly thrown into jeopardy.
A Happy Day builds on several of Zaman’s well-known strengths, with its quirky and complex characters and use of black humour to approach a serious political issue. He once again opts for a leading cast composed entirely of non-professional actors (Salah Qadi, Ravand Ali Taha, Mohammed Salah, Sarah Aman Mentzoni), complemented by a supporting cast featuring several well-known names from the Norwegian film and TV industry. These include Stig Frode Henriksen, reality TV star Hilde Skovdahl, and actress Thea Sofie Loch Næss, who played in the Netflix production ‘The Last Kingdom’ and will star as Leonard Cohen’s girlfriend in the upcoming Norwegian-Canadian TV series ‘So Long, Marianne.’
At the same time, Zaman experiments with several new elements in A HAPPY DAY. It is one of his most visually remarkable films to date, shot amidst the vast, snow-covered landscapes of northern Norway. These tableau images are sprinkled with touches of poetic surrealism, through the use of magical, dreamlike sequences which blur the boundaries between imagination and reality.
The film tackles a hotly debated topic in Norwegian refugee policy, and one which is rarely explored on the big screen in Norway. Yet, as always, Zaman approaches the subject unconventionally, steering clear of political dogmatism and focusing instead on human themes such as identity, love, friendship, hope, dignity, and the fleetingness of life. Through the bizarre situations that his characters encounter, Zaman uses subtle humour to challenge his audiences to reflect on the way that policies impact people. The result is a film that is at once comically absurd, tragic, and heartwarming.
A HAPPY DAY is the first of Zaman’s feature films to be produced through his company Snowfall Cinema, established in 2015. He is joined by associate producer Turid Øversveen, a veteran producer in the Norwegian film industry known for Out Stealing Horses (2019) and Babycall (2011). The film is also an international co-production with one of Scandinavia’s leading production companies, Zentropa (Denmark) as well as Rein Film (Norway), which focuses on films made in the Barents region. The film received support from both the Norwegian and Danish Film Institutes, Eurimages, Nordic Film & TV Fund, Filmfond Nord, FilmCamp and others.
The Toronto International Film Festival is considered one of the most prestigious festivals in the world, drawing audiences of nearly 500,000 people every year. A HAPPY DAY will be featured as part of the festival’s newly revamped Centrepiece programme, which is “a showcase for acclaimed titles from festivals around the globe, highly anticipated premieres from Canadian and international talents, and the latest work of influential filmmaking luminaries.”
The film will premiere in Norwegian cinemas in Autumn 2023.
President of the Kurdistan Genocide Writers Union Salar Mahmoud told KurdSat that to reject the 100-year oppression of the Kurds and Kurdistan in general 100,000 Kurds and Kurd sympathizer are expected to gather in front of the hall where the treaty was signed on July 24, 1923.
There are obstacles to the national issue, but Kurds and foreign friends and representatives of Kurdish political and civil organizations from all over the world have left for this important turning point and participation in the Centennial Conference of Lausanne, which starts tomorrow and will continue in the following days, Mahmoud added.
Greater Kurdistan was united under the Ottoman Empire but was later divided among Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran after Lausanne Treaty in 1923 that made Kurds a minority in all of these states.
This year, more than 1.8 million pilgrims from 160 countries performed the obligatory Hajj in hot weather, one of the five pillars of Islam. Pilgrims completed their third day of stoning in Mina on Friday and left for Mecca.
By making a farewell turn and the pilgrims prepare to return to their countries.
240 pilgrims have died and thousands of others have suffered from heat waves during the Hajj pilgrimage. However, this year were no incidents of compression or mass deaths of pilgrims was recorded.
In a ceremony held in Sulaimani, Azad Tofiq, the governor of Halabja, published his memoirs in two volumes entitled, Pir Mohammed and Flying Towards the Sand House, and the second volume is titled, Yellow Houses. The Second House of Life!
Halabja Governor Azad Tofiq told Kurdsat that his book focuses on his childhood and adolescence memories in Halabja. In general, the book is part of the memory of the people of Halabja and the different eras they went through in the past.
The Kurdish community in Birmingham heard of a prominent Birmingham Church offered for sale in an auction and announced a campaign to collect one million pounds, roughly $1.2 million US, UK-based Journalist Said Hawrami told KurdSat English.
"A charity bank account was opened for the campaign and people transferred their donations to the account," Hawrami noted.
Kurdish preachers living in Birmingham announced the campaign to collect funds to buy the church on December 22, 2023. Preacher Kuri Pak said in a campaign promotion video that it is every Muslim's duty to donate to buy the church. Pak is a well-known Kurdish Islamic preacher whose videos gather thousands of views.
"Many people offered their vehicles to the campaign; one offered a $25,000 US car to the campaign," Hawrami said regarding how the money was raised.
According to Hawrami, the [Birmingham] municipality at times decommissions temples and sets a price on them for sale, and the property is open for anyone to buy, but this one was placed in an auction, and the Kurds offered the highest bid, at a million British pounds and acquired the church.
In 2021, the same group of preachers helped purchase a bar, something Islam prohibits, and turned it into a Church. "Thank god we are going to turn this 3200 square meter lot into a mosque, Preacher Pak said in a video message published on Facebook.
"The Birmingham Muslims need a mosque, and we want to turn this church into a mosque," the preacher says in the promotion video for the campaign to collect funds.
There are substantial Kurdish communities across Europe and the rest of the world as repressive regimes where the Kurds lived in the 1980s, forced many Kurds to migrate and settle in countries such as the UK.
Although there are no official figures on the number of Birmingham Kurds, our numbers suggest that over tens of thousands of Kurds are in the UK province alone.
Kurdish and Iraqi leaders congratulated the KBC on its 23rd founding anniversary and wished its continued service to the people as it worked as a distinguished and reliable media.
President of Iraq Dr. Latif Rashid said, “Dear Supervisors, Directors and journalists of Kurdsat Broadcasting Corporation, on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of the founding of KurdSat, I warmly congratulate you. We all know that KurdSat has been one of the most honest and reliable media in the Kurdistan region. I hope this year as in previous years better and better in the service of promoting the culture of our people.
PUK President Bafel Jalal Talabani wished the KBC success saying, “congratulations to the directors, journalists and employees of Kurdsat Broadcasting Corporation and I wish you continuity and success.
Praising KBC’s distinguished role in preserving the ethical and moral values of the Kurdistan region, President Talabani said, “in the past two decades, Kurdsat has been a valued media channel in the Kurdistan region households and a beautiful and shining example in the Kurdish media.”
Kurdish renowned female actress Bayan Bomba said, “the KBC is the only media channel that has brought all actors together.” The KBC has produced and distributed tens of family-friendly movies and series that aim to preserve the Kurdish culture.
Kurdish tenor and world-renowned singer Shahram Nazeri congratulated the KBC staff on its founding anniversary. “KurdSat has an important role in introducing the history, culture and art of the Kurdish people and promoting them, Kurdsat is a sacred memory of Hero Khan for all of us,” Nazer said. During the past two decades the KBC has introduced thousands of Kurdish artists, singers, authors, musicians and figures that promote the Kurdish culture, creating an invaluable archive of Kurdish cultural content.
Kurdsat Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) is a satellite television station and digital media in Sulaimani in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. It currently airs in Kurdish and has a digital media in English. Former Iraqi First Lady Hero Ibrahim Ahmed founded the KBC in January 1, 2000, and the KBC began broadcasting on January on 2000. The KBC was the first press organization to focus on introducing the Kurdistan region and its people to the world through the media as it has always promoted Kurdish culture and history.
Currently the KBC has an image of reliability that never runs fake news. News consumers would first check KurdSat for a piece of news's reliability, as the KBC eschews propaganda and fake news.
When a delegation travels somewhere
To visit the grave of a missing soldier
They bring a wreath
If a delegation visits my country
Asking about missing peshmerga graves
I reply, sir, on the banks of every stream
On the floor of any mosque
At the door of any house, church, or cave
On the top of each mountain's boulder
Beside every tree in this homeland
On each tract of land
Under every inch of the sky
Don't be afraid to bow your head a little and lay your wreath
She learned to drive a tractor and instructed her other female fellows to go behind the wheel. In 1996, there were only a few male drivers, and highly uncommon for women to drive; but Akhtar Khan helped hundreds of women learn to drive through a foreign NGO. In 2005, she opened her driving school called Akhtar Khan Office and has worked with the Sulaimani traffic department ever since.
She remains one of the best instructors in Sulaimani who teaches females to drive.
She does not keep a record of the number of women she taught driving but estimates that she helped thousands of women to obtain their driving licenses.
In recent years, the number of women driving has increased, as now some women work as taxi drivers or mechanics.
It often results in a rug with deeply saturated jewel tones and creative and captivating designs. Kurdish Bijar rug designs usually showcase a traditional flower garden design.
Bijar could be a variation of Bajar, or Bazher, Kurdish for city. Among other suggested meanings for bijar are bid-zar, land of willow tree.
Bidjar pieces typically utilize a central medallion detailed by flowers, birds, or caterpillars, with arrowed or stylized ends on the central motif. Bijar rugs are often called the "Iron Rugs of Iran" for their thickness and durability.
In this carpet, the ornate medallion incorporates intricate flower and vine motifs detailed in cream, red, pink, brown, and green wool. Blue, orange, and cream vases detail the field within the central medallion.
Some unique features and symbolism make this piece of extraordinary
Traditionally, the foreground of this carpet would be blue, representing the water pond inside the flower garden. In this carpet, the weaver chose to utilize red, which in Kurdish textiles represents love.
In the four corners of the field, fish in cream and green cleverly disguise themselves as long-leaf designs. Fish, in Kurdish rugs, symbolize life and water and the transcendence between life in different landscapes. The green fern shapes on either side of the medallion are peacocks with their tails aligned symmetrically to blend into the garden design.
Kurdish sects consider these peacocks sacred, symbolize divine protection, and add tranquility to the carpet's design. Incorporating these motifs within the additional design elements replicates the attempts of animals to camouflage themselves into their surroundings.
It is difficult to find a Kurdish household without rugs in every room. Traditionally they were considered a sign of wealth and well-being and now serve as an obvious sign to decorate one's floor.
The main drive for rug prevalence is the Kurdish home architecture. Kurdish houses are not elevated off the ground, absorbing most of the heat and cold emitted from the ground, and that is when the rugs come in, serving as a non-conductor between the inhabitants and the floor, especially in the winter, as rugs help them to avoid the cold.
Although there is a large market for rugs and carpets in the Kurdistan region, its domestic production has almost become obsolete, as imports from Iran and other supplies make its domestic variants uncompetitive.
A Bijar rug with detailed decorations
Highlighting simple and common mistakes that some couples make can help raise awareness and thus improve relationships with their life partner. According to social and family relations specialist Stephen Ing in an article published by "Psychology Today", caring for and protecting family relationships requires awareness of a number of common mistakes that are very simple to avoid to ensure that you spend enjoyable times and live a happy life.
Unrealistic aspirations
Some couples make the common mistake of exaggerating their expectations and all the time wanting the other person to be the best at everything, for example, fitter, more tactful, rational, spiritual and emotional. Ing advises that they should either (a) admit that they chose the wrong person as a partner or (b) deal realistically with the husband and learn to love him for who he is, and adapt to what is possible.
Replica
Some couples make the simple but pivotal mistake of not feeling satisfied unless their partner has an exact copy of their emotions, opinions, ambitions, and political or athletic inclinations. Having an identical husband or wife could be further from the truth. Couples should be aware that they are in an inclusive relationship, which means trying to find complementary, non-overlapping or identical areas of strength, ability, and interest.
The pursuit of perfection
Some couples seek perfection in their behavior and the behavior of a life partner, while the continual pursuit of perfection leads to a feeling of pressure and more burden, leading to disorder or frustration and failure of relationships. Experts advise that it is okay for a person and his partner to have some non-essential flaws, and for each other to feel that he loves him and accepts him as he is without pretense or pretense.
Not allowing and sabotaging foreign friendships
It is fairly common for couples to call each other the "best friend" in life. Although it is great for a husband to be a wife's best friend, it is also important to encourage her friendships with her female colleagues, neighbors, and female relatives. Being jealous of a husband or wife having other friends is self-defeating, because people who have solid and reliable friendships are happier, adaptive, and involved in other aspects of their lives.
Live and let live
If one’s goal is to form a happy family whose relations are based on solid foundations of love, respect and understanding, then he must create the conditions and environment in which his life partner feels safe, secure and stable just because she deals with her nature in a natural and objective framework based on accepting the other as he is.
Landless is a locally produced Kurdish film by Raz Halkawt. Written and directed by Touraj Aslani. Maad Movie has produced the film and is premiered by Eli Image.
Landless is drama, crime and thriller film, inspired by true story. The cast includes Arab, Kurdish, Persian and Turkish actors and actress.
KurdSat Broadcasting Corporation promotes the film and helps it reach a broader audience.
A video of a Moroccan woman encouraging her dog to attack and kill a kitten has sparked outrage in Morocco with many calling for legal measures against her, news outlet Hespress reported on Friday.
In the video that was posted on Wednesday night, the 24-year-old woman, who hails from the city of Fez, can be heard encouraging her dog to attack the helpless cat.
The hashtag “Prison for the cat killer” has been widely used on Facebook and Twitter, with many Moroccans calling on the authorities to investigate the matter and hold the woman accountable.
According to the Morocco World News, the woman shared the video on Facebook.
She can be heard speaking to her dog and saying that “the kitten is ugly” and that she does not like cats.
“It’s okay, you killed the kitten,” the report stated citing the woman in question.
After social media users widely shared the video and demanded legal punishment, she took to Facebook in an attempt to defend herself.
She claimed that she does not bring cats to be tortured and killed by her dog, adding that she left the dog and the kitten for ten minutes and when she returned, “the cat was no longer alive.”
She also apologized and said: “I should not have shared the video.”
However, many did not believe her as they noted that the video of the incident was captioned “before [the dog] kills [the kitten].”
According to Morocco World News, Articles 601, 602 and 603 of the country’s penal code “prohibit poisoning guard dogs, and unnecessarily killing or maiming guard dogs and pets on the animal’s owner’s land.”
A video of a Moroccan woman encouraging her dog to attack and kill a kitten has sparked outrage in Morocco with many calling for legal measures against her, news outlet Hespress reported on Friday.
In the video that was posted on Wednesday night, the 24-year-old woman, who hails from the city of Fez, can be heard encouraging her dog to attack the helpless cat.
The hashtag “Prison for the cat killer” has been widely used on Facebook and Twitter, with many Moroccans calling on the authorities to investigate the matter and hold the woman accountable.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
According to the Morocco World News, the woman shared the video on Facebook.
She can be heard speaking to her dog and saying that “the kitten is ugly” and that she does not like cats.
“It’s okay, you killed the kitten,” the report stated citing the woman in question.
After social media users widely shared the video and demanded legal punishment, she took to Facebook in an attempt to defend herself.
She claimed that she does not bring cats to be tortured and killed by her dog, adding that she left the dog and the kitten for ten minutes and when she returned, “the cat was no longer alive.”
She also apologized and said: “I should not have shared the video.”
However, many did not believe her as they noted that the video of the incident was captioned “before [the dog] kills [the kitten].”
According to Morocco World News, Articles 601, 602 and 603 of the country’s penal code “prohibit poisoning guard dogs, and unnecessarily killing or maiming guard dogs and pets on the animal’s owner’s land.”
Naziha Salim was born in Iraqi family of artists in 1927, in Istanbul, Turkey. While her father was a painter, her mother was a skilled embroidery artist.
She was once described by Iraq’s first Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani as "the first Iraqi woman who anchored the pillars of Iraqi contemporary art. "
Her family were famous, and adept artists. His brother Jawad, is widely considered as one of Iraq’s most influential sculptors.
From an early age, Salim was into art and tried to create her own art. Salim Studied arts, and graduated with distinction in the Baghdad Fine Arts Institute. "Because of her hard work and passion for art she was one of the first women awarded a scholarship to continue her education in Paris at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts," Google wrote in its blogpost.
Her new album, “Breath of Nahrain,” is a case in point. It is a compilation of the rich melodies of Mesopotamia — the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that is often mentioned to as ‘the cradle of civilization,’ but is now known as a region of conflict and instability.
The five tracks on the album are sung in Kurdish, Kurmanci, Zazaki, Armenian and Assyrian — covering Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Armenia; a reflection of the area’s diverse history and culture. The album’s recently released first single, the Kurdish-language “Heyran Jaro,” for example, is based on a love song familiar to the region’s nomadic tribes.
The album’s recently released first single, the Kurdish-language “Heyran Jaro,” is based on a love song familiar to the region’s nomadic tribes.
“The song is about two lovers who cannot be together,” Chakar said. “It resembles the big, mad scene — a 15-minute rollercoaster ride of very extravagant music — in Donizetti’s ‘Lucia di Lammermoor.’”
“Heyran Jaro” is not an obvious choice for a single. But, as Chakar explained: “I couldn’t interrupt the lyrics of this love story. I wanted to abide by its spirit,” she said.
It was no easy task for Chakar to put the album together. She was meticulous in her approach to ensuring she was singing these ancient languages properly, and in adapting the folk-song source material into operatic form.
But her insistence on singing in Kurdish has cost her in the past, as it does with most singers who sing in Kurdish. Chakar’s several concerts are being cancelled in Turkey and harsh criticism coming from conservative circles. Still, Chakar felt it was too important a record to be dissuaded from releasing it.
Mayor John Cooper has signed a proclamation declaring March as Kurdish History Month — a designation that members of the Kurdish community say sends an important message.
"We've been here since the late '80s early '90s and we think it's really time for Kurds to be recognized as being a body of people who help the economy, grow the culture, and grow the community here," said Wan Rashid, executive director of Effendi Foundation,
Effendi Foundation is a group that works to unite Kurds living in Nashville. Rashid said the recognition came at a perfect time.
"One of the reasons is because we have Newroz, and as you can see, Newroz is very established in our community it basically means the new year. And the folktale of Newroz is this man that defeated a terrible leader and freed the people," she said.
There are around 20,000 Kurds living in Music City. Rashid said united they're a strong force.
"Organizations today from Effendi Foundation to Kurdish Professionals really want to honor the Kurds in the community here," she said.
Many Kurds arrived in Nashville seeking refuge from violence and persecution. Rashid said a proclamation at a local level is only the start.
"Of it happening on the local level that gives us credibility to then go to the governor and ask them for a proclamation on the state level to where Kurds in Knoxville and Memphis can also say this is a month that is for the Kurds," Rashid said.
She says she hopes people take this as an opportunity to learn more about the Kurdish culture and celebrate it together.
"If you go through all of Nolensville and Murfreesboro Pike you'll see a lot of different businesses that are operated and owned by Kurds. And it's really influential to go and support these communities and these businesses to help them to continue thriving," Rashid said.