We are excited to announce that the 12th London Kurdish Film Festival will be presenting the first-ever GLOBAL Kurdish Film Festival - Online Edition, taking place from 16 - 27 April 2021. This year’s programme of films will be showcased online, with worldwide accessibility, completely FREE of charge.

Due to the challenges of COVID-19, many film festivals around the world have either been postponed or cancelled and in-turn unable to host physical festival events. We at LKFF have decided to go ahead with an Online Edition this year, hosting our 12-day film festival event virtually.

The Global Kurdish Film Festival

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of LKFF and to celebrate our longstanding festival, we have decided to partner with 10 other renowned Kurdish film festivals around the globe to showcase a united programme of films. Due to this unique partnership, the 12th edition of LKFF will be introducing the first-ever collaborative Global Kurdish Film Festival.

My Kurdistan / Kurdistana min

To reflect the natural content of this edition, the theme of this year is My Kurdistan / Kurdistana min. Kurdish cinema has grown exponentially in the last couple of decades. However, the films and talent remain under-exposed and under-represented, with films that many find difficult to access or have not been able to view since their initial release. LKFF has continuously aimed to celebrate and highlight Kurdish cinema for the last 11 editions, by hosting our exhibition.

Therefore, we have embraced the circumstances of this year by grabbing this opportunity to create a library of Kurdish films and make it as accessible as possible, in-turn establishing and defining the Kurdish national cinema. We will be screening two defined programmes, the first will be a New Selection Film Programme, exhibiting short and feature-length fiction, documentary and animation films. The second will be a carefully curated showcase of the Best of Kurdish Cinema within the last 20 years, which will include feature-length fiction and documentary film titles.

This is the first time an exhibition at this scale will be showcasing such a historical programme, followed by exclusive Q&A’s, panel discussions and masterclass workshops with a diverse set of film industry experts.

Competitions & Awards

Participating in this edition will be two panels of Kurdish and non-Kurdish film Jurors from different parts of the world and who are active in the international film sector. This year the Jury will be granting the New Selection Films the following Awards in competition:

• ROJAZER Best Feature Fiction Film Award
• Mehmet Aksoy Best Feature Documentary Award
• Yilmaz Güney Best Short Fiction Film Award
• LKFF Honorary Film Award
• Best Short Documentary Award
• Best Actress Film Award
• Best Actor Film Award

An additional award has been created for the audience to vote for their favourite classic film from the Best of Kurdish Cinema film programme:

• Audience Choice Best Film Award

The 12th LKFF is supported by the BFI (British Film Institute), FAN (Film Audience Network), National Lottery, Kurdish Regional Government Representation in the United Kingdom (KRG UK) and Kurdish People’s Democratic Assembly of Britain.

With the festival activities kicking off from 21st March 2021, LKFF warmly invites our global audience to experience and connect with the most accessible version of the festival yet and enjoy 12 days filled with a rich selection of films and interactive activities across our programme. We look forward to connecting with you all then!

Stay tuned for further information about the online launch of the Global Kurdish Film Festival Programme and streaming platform by checking out our latest updates on our website:

www.lkff.co.uk