The Koran and five kilos of nuts: a resident of a Kurdish village starred in a movie

The best film at the festival was “Hole in the Wall” – men’s conversations about poetry and beauty

The III Kurdish Film Festival has ended in Moscow. After the awards presentation, the world premiere of the film “5 Kilos of Walnuts” by Iranian-Kurdish director Behrouz Ghobadi took place. The main role was played by the fantastically gifted non-professional actor Nuri Seyedmohamadi, who turned out to be a Kurdish kulbak transporting goods across the border. He fell in love on the set. .

After the premiere, the question arose whether he was a professional. It’s so surprising that he didn’t even play but lived his role. I had to find out. The film is based on the true story of Nouri Seyedmohamadi. Everything we saw on the screen is the pure truth. This is his story. Nuri is a resident of a Kurdish village that seems to cling to the mountain. He has a wife, but she is like a sister. What would that mean? The fact is that after Nuri’s older brother fell off a cliff and died, the younger one had to marry his wife so that there would be no misunderstandings.

Nuri struggles to make a living as a cross-border transporter. And when a film crew comes to their village, he agrees to do the most menial work in order to earn money, serving tea to the group. But what happens in the movies will happen. For some reason, the leading actor refuses to leave the room, and something needs to be decided. The director, played by the film’s director Behrouz Ghobadi, catches the eye of Nouri and is quickly prepared for filming.

Nuri is very shy, but we have to do a wedding scene. In order for everything to go well, the director asks the actress to be affectionate with the non-professional actor. And he will convince him that the beautiful actress sympathizes with him. The simple-minded Nuri and, accordingly, his hero take everything at face value. A wedding gift is being prepared – the Koran, 5 kg of walnuts and one candy.

The scene will be filmed. The result will exceed all expectations, and the group will quickly take off, leaving for Tehran, leaving its main artist without a bride. This is exactly what happened to Nuri himself. He lived this situation so tenderly and sincerely in the movies, and in life he turned out to be the same touching and shy person, and this cannot but arouse tenderness towards him. Nuri is simply a diamond and a find for cinema.

Professional actress Taghizadeh Fatemeh, who played his imaginary bride, told how she went to Kurdistan for the first time before filming: “I spent a month there, lived with a family. I myself am not Kurdish, but I didn’t feel like I was a stranger. This people has a great culture and traditions.”

Almost all the laureates were able to personally receive their awards on the final evening, with the exception of director Bilal Korkut. He attended his Moscow show, and then left to present the film “Hole in the Wall” at a festival in New York. The jury recognized his film as the best in the feature-length feature competition. Lutfi Irdem’s Pirebok also received a special mention.

“Best short fiction film” – “Unheard” by Ramazan Kilic. It is curious that Ibrahim Selman, who headed the short fiction jury, himself shot almost 80 short films. Best Documentary Short – “Mountains: A Women’s Narrative” by Rebwar Mahmudpour. He dedicated the award to his mother, whom he lost four months ago. “I lost the most valuable thing in my life,” he said. “But I am happy to receive this award after mourning.” .

The jury considered “Memory” by Veysi Altay, about the search for the remains of victims of persecution and torture in the 1990s in Kurdistan, to be the “Best Feature Documentary Film”. The director dedicated the award to “his people fighting for the liberation of Kurdistan”

A special diploma went to “Tanbur,” whose director Farid Elhami became the highlight of the festival. He is a 23rd generation musician, composer and performed tanbur and setar music at the opening and closing ceremonies. Farid was also awarded a prize for his contribution to Kurdish cinema.

The laureates received a “Golden Sun” – this is the religious and cultural symbol of the Kurds, which adorns the flag of Kurdistan. At the festival they always talked about a country that is not on the map, but the Kurds were, are and will be. It is not surprising that the short film “The Last Five Minutes” by Shahram Maslah about a runner who does not have his own country received a special mention from the jury.