Sahim Omar Kalifa (born 1980 in

Zakho Zakho, also spelled Zaxo ( ku, زاخۆ, Zaxo, syr, ܙܵܟ݂ܘܿ, Zākhō, , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, at the centre of the eponymous Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Iraq–Turkey b ...

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also inc ...

) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

based in Belgium.

Life and career

In 2001, he came to Belgium, and in 2008 he got his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in filmmaking at Sint-Lukas Film School,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. With his

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

''Nan'', Kalifa won the Best Flemish Student Film at the Leuven International Short Film Festival. Kalifa has won more than 100 international awards for his short films ''Land of the Heroes'', ''Baghdad Messi'', and ''Bad Hunter''. The biggest achievements so far are: A-Jury Prize as Best Short film for ‘Land of the heroes’ at the

61st Berlin International Film Festival The 61st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 February 2011, with actress Isabella Rossellini as the President of the Jury. The Coen Brothers film ''True Grit'' opened the festival. 300,000 tickets were sold in total ...

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B- ‘Baghdad Messi’ was shortlisted for the 87th Academy Awards, better known as The Oscars. It was one of the 10 finalists. C- ‘Bad Hunter’ was also shortlisted for the 88th Academy Awards. D- ZAGROS ‘Feature Film’: Winner of The Grand Prix For BEST FILM at 44th Ghent Film Festival. Audience Award for Best Film at 18th Arras Film Festival – France. Best Director at 18th Arras Film Festival – France. Audience Award for Best Film at 35th Annonay Film Festival – France. 47th Rotterdam International Film Festival – Official selection. 72nd Edinburgh Film Festival – Official Selection - UK. 35th Munich Film Festival – Official Selection. 42nd Montreal World Film Festival - Canada. ''Bad Hunter'' won the Jury Prize in the Muhr Short Film Competition at the 2014

Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announc ...

. ‘Bad Hunter’ won also several international Awards at some important film festivals, like Jury Award at 59th Valladolid, 38th Montreal World, Dubai IFF and Flickerfest International Film Festival. 2014, Sahim was chosen in Istanbul as Best Kurdish film director. In 2016 Sahim was invited to be one of the more than 6,000 voting members of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. In 2017 his Documentary Film ‘Cornered in Molenbeek’ has won Best Belgian Documentary TV Series at Docville Documentary Film Festival. And also selected for Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival – Official competition In May 2016, Sahim started filming his first feature film ''Zagros,'' supported by Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (VAF), Dutch Film Fund and

Eurimages Eurimages is a cultural support fund of the Council of Europe, established in 1989. Eurimages promotes independent filmmaking by providing financial support to feature-length fiction, animation, and documentary films. In doing so, it encourages ...

. His documentary film ''Iraq's Invisible Beauty'' tells the story of the late Iraqi photographer Latif al-Ani and his photographic documentation of Iraq between the 1950s and 1970s.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalifa, Sahim Omar Living people 1980 births Belgian film directors Kurdish film directors