Background
He was born in the town of Aqrah (Akre) in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Actor composer director film producer
He was born in the town of Aqrah (Akre) in Iraqi Kurdistan.
He left Iraq at the age of 17, and soon made his way to Italy, where he completed school and attended university.
Later on, he moved to France where he lives now. In 1992, after the First Gulf War, he filmed undercover the living conditions of Iraqi Kurds. This footage was shown at the Venice Film Festival.
In 1998, he made his first movie, Vive la mariéestablished et la libération du Kurdistan.
He wrote and directed all three. He was honored with the prestigious title Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by French Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres in 2005.
His memoirs titled My Father"s Rifle has been published in French, English, Greek and Tamil. His 2013 film My Sweet Pepperland was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Vive la mariéestablished et la libération du Kurdistan (1997)
Passeurs de rêves (2000) (English Title: Beyond Our Dreams)
Absolitude (2001) (television)
Vodka Lemon (2003)
Kilomètre zéro (2005)
Dol (2007)
Les Toits de Paris (2007) (English Title: Beneath the Rooftops of Paris)
Si tu meurs, je te tue (2011)
My Sweet Pepperland (2013).