Israeli film dropped from Iraqi Kurdish festival competition
Authorities in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region have withdrawn an Israeli movie from the annual Duhok International Film Festival “due to regional complications and considerations.”
“Due to regional complications and considerations, Duhok International Film Festival unwillingly withdraws the film The Dive by Yona Rozenkier from the world cinema competition although the film was screened in the festival program,” the festival website announced in a statement.
It added, “Duhok International Film Festival deeply apologizes for this incident.”
Jury president Kristian Feigelson said in a separate statement that the withdrawal of the film, which portrays three brothers carrying out their father's last wish, was the result of “political pressure coming officially from Baghdad.”
The Iraqi culture ministry, however, roundly denied interfering in the festival.
“We have not been contacted by the organizers of the festival and we have not been involved at any level in the holding of this event,” a ministry spokesman told AFP.
The Duhok International Film Festival has been held annually since 2011. It boasts a host of productions by filmmakers from all over the world, including Armenians and Iranians, but its main focus is on Kurdish cinema.
Iraq does not formally recognize Israel, and Baghdad and Tel Aviv are technically still at war.
Israel has far warmer relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities, and was the only party to support the semi-autonomous region’s controversial secession referendum, which antagonized the central government in Baghdad as well as neighboring countries like Turkey and Iran.
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