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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The first Sulaimani international film festival hoped to begin building a Kurdish film industry, one that that will offer Kurds a way to shape their identity.“These film festivals bring filmmakers together and allow them to meet,” Sami Kaftan told Rudaw.Kaftan is an Iraqi film star who has been performing in movies for over 40 years.In the midst of the ongoing war against the Islamic State (ISIS) and the current political gridlock between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil and the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad, Kaftan believes that such film festivals are the perfect distraction.“These movies allow the people to be relaxed, and enjoy themselves. These festivals are all about peace,” he said.The film festival was also a source of pride for Sulaimani. Ramyar Dilshad, a student at Raparin University, was excited about the international attention the city received.“This is so good that it’s international,” Dilshad proclaimed in excitement to Rudaw. “It gives Sulaimani and Kurdistan international attention.”Dilshad echoed Kaftan’s point that the festival is an important peaceful celebration of culture.“It also shows that we can enjoy Kurdish culture with a war against ISIS going on,” he said.The festival screened both Kurdish and international films touching on the themes of love, war and resistance.One of the winning films, Cloudy Sunday, touched on all three.“To me, the Kurdish people are a symbol of resistance and fighting for their rights,” the star of Cloudy Sunday, Haris Fragoulis told Rudaw. “This is something that moves me.”Fragoulis thanked Kurdistan and the Kurdish people for their hospitality in hosting the event. “I’m very touched and grateful for the Kurdish people. I’ve always wanted to meet the Kurdish people and this place,” he said. “For the festival, I am very grateful for the invitation, for the organization, for the quality of the movies.”Cloudy Sunday tells the story of two lovers, a Christian and a Jew, whom society does not want to be together during the German occupation of the Greek city of Thessaloniki in 1942. Fragoulis believes that the movie’s message resonates in the Middle East, a region torn by ethnic and religious divides.“The movie speaks about love, about war, about resistance very much. But most of all, the movie speaks about memories, not to forget the past in order to continue for the future,” he explained. “This is something we must remember for the Kurdish people too. We must not forget what happened here and what are the problems and the dangers.”Dr. Dilshad Mustafa, who has a doctorate in media and has made films about Kurdish genocide, believes that being recognized for having a film industry is a way for Kurdistan to shape its identity.“The power of identity has always been a complicated process,” Mustafa said during a panel discussion at the festival on Tuesday morning.Mustafa cited how the Jewish people have used cinema to portray their suffering during the Holocaust, bringing international awareness to the issue. “Cinema can show the injustices that have been committed against us.”Building an indigenous film industry in the Kurdistan Region has many challenges, particularly the region’s conservative culture, said Shawkat Amin Korki, an award winning Kurdish filmmaker.“The role of the religious and conservative society prohibits large numbers from going to the cinema,” Korki said during the same panel discussion. “We can’t just focus on the international audience but on our own as well.”Although cinema has been used by the Jewish community to portray the people’s history in adversity, Jewish and German-born filmmaker Ruth Olshan claims that the Jews and Kurds have more in common than “just suffering.”“We also have humor,” Olshan said during the panel discussion. “And humor shows strength. You want to show you’re strong, use humor.”The three day festival wrapped up with an award ceremony on Tuesday evening. Organizers hope to make the festival an annual event.