Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will present the Spirit of Cinema Award to Kurdish filmmaker Lisa Calan during the inaugural ceremony of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK 2022) on Friday.
Calan, who lost both her legs in a bomb blast engineered by the ISIS in 2015, has worked to expose to the world the issues faced by Kurdish people. Her film Language of Mountains which portrays the survival story of Kurdish people against the backdrop of a school will premiere at the festival under the ‘Spirit of Cinema’ section. The first screening will be held on March 19 at Ariesplex Audi 6.
The constant conflicts in Iran and Turkey have left a deep scar in the minds of the Kurdish people. These and other incidents served to widen Calan’s perspectives. By honoring Calan, the IFFK aims to send a message of solidarity with the struggling Kurdish women in their fight for justice and freedom, an official statement said.