Rødt hjerte

The Kurdish teenagers Soran and Shirin is in love, but Shirins old father needs a new wife, and makes a deal, also including Shirin having to marry a retarded man. After the marriage Shirin runs away with Soran on his motorbike, to make a new life of their forbidden love. From there trouble really starts.

Iraqi Halkawt Mustafa, fresh out of film school in Norway has made an important and heartfelt first feature film, love story of forbidden love. Financed in Kurdistan, beautifully filmed and well acted, this is a little gem which touches you in all the right places. The actors, which are well known Kurdish actors, all do a great job, giving great realism to a story which could be true. Inpired by a book about womens rights in Islamic countries.

I was so lucky to see the film before meeting the director, which also has made the script, as well as being co-producer, and was impressed about the story behind the film as well as with the film itself. A few weeks before this film is to premiere in Kurdistan this film as already been pre-screened with a massive positive response, so as by Norwegian critics.

Mustafa came to Rjukan, Norway seeking political asylum back in 2001, and after college made it into film school. Here he shows that he really has a great talent. At the Cannes film festival the film got a world distribution, so await it to be screened around the world for the following year.

An important film, wanting to change womens conditions of freedom in Kurdistan, as well as in other Islamic countries with prehistoric traditions of men being superior to women, this is told from a pounding red heart.