Afrin Post-Special
“Afrin Cinema Commune” in Al-Shahba canton is preparing a film festival entitled “Lelun International Film Festival” with its first season in “Rojava”, receiving more than two thousand and 73 films from around the world, as 58 of them will be selected, as the number of the Resistance days in Afrin.
The festival, which will start on September 21, coinciding with the International Day of Peace, aims to exchange cultures between the peoples of the world by screening various films.
In this regard, Mohyeddin Arslan, an administrator at the Lelun International Film Festival in Al-Shahba, spoke to “Afrinpost” about the festival’s purposes and goals, and said: “At a time when the people are living in a state of forced displacement and their land was taken from them by force, the people are required to follow the line of resistance. In order to return to their homes, for the first time in the history of humanity, a people is attacked with weapons and missiles and responds to it with culture and art.
Adding: “As the people are aware that these attacks target their will and ancient culture by targeting Turkey in the village of Aindara in its first attacks on Afrin, and in light of the silence of the international community about the occupation of Afrin, the attacks of the Turkish occupation and the forced displacement of the people, we saw it necessary to draw the attention of international public opinion.”
He added: “From this point of view, we started with the Lelun International Film Festival project in Al-Shahba, and we chose the name Lelun after the Lelun Mountain in Afrin, which, through studies and research, has been found to be a witness to many ancient civilizations and cultures, except that it shows the Kurdish culture and presence.”
Arsalan continues: “This festival is managed and organized by the Afrin Cinema Commune which was established in 2017 in Afrin. The festival starts on September 21 this year coinciding with the International Day of Peace by being demanding for peace and safety, and through this international festival we call on the world for peace and get to know each other’s cultures and civilizations.” .
He pointed out that “the preparation for the festival began 6 months from now, and after it was announced in the media, and on the first of July, the festival began to receive films from the world through a page created on social media, and its doors were open until the 15th of this month.”
Arsalan pointed out that “when the reception doors were closed, the number of films sent to the festival reached nearly 2,300 films worldwide, sent from more than 150 countries, and this increased our strength and our will.” Afrin Cinema Commune formed committees to evaluate and select 58 films sent to the festival. Relative to the number of days of resistance in Afrin.
Arsalan continued: “The films that were sent to the commune were varied and different from each other, and the Communication and Media Committee of the Commune was formed, where its members are currently in southern Kurdistan, France and several countries in Europe, and this is what made the festival have a wide resonance, and this was evidenced by the number of films sent to us”
Arsalan indicated that, “After the reception phase and the selection of films to be shown at the festival, we are working on preparations for how to organize and display the festival in the province, and the festival will include competitions for the best film in the world, as well as other events and activities that will be organized during the festival’s screening.”
Arsalan stressed that “the festival atmosphere will be sensitive to circumstances and take health measures, given the spread of Corona virus in the region in cooperation with the Kurdish Red Crescent, and the festival will be presented in the camps in which Afrin people resist, which is our main message in the festival.”
Arsalan concluded by saying: “A jury has been formed for the films, in which 7 filmmakers will take their place in it from southern, eastern and western Kurdistan, and with the participation of Italy, Mexico, Egypt, and among them Kurds, Arabs and foreigners, and accordingly, the films that will be shown at the festival will be translated into Kurdish and Arabic.
