UKHRUL: Manipuri Film critic Meghachandra Kongbam has been appointed as a member of the FIPRESCI International Jury at the 12th edition of the Duhok International Film Festival 2025. The festival will be held from December 9 to 16 in Duhok, located in the Kurdistan Autonomous Region of Iraq, a release stated.
The other members of the jury include Olivia Popp from Germany and Kovan Hussein Saado from Kurdistan. The jury will select the winner of the prestigious International Critics’ FIPRESCI Prize at the festival.
The Duhok International Film Festival, recognised as one of the most significant cinematic events in the Middle East, annually showcases outstanding films from across the world, with a special focus on Kurdish culture, language, identity, and social realities.
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The festival carries a strong humanistic message: “Together, we can serve the art of cinema, cultivate a culture free from violence, war and suffering, and deliver a unified human message to the world.”
Expressing his excitement, Meghachandra Kongbam said he was looking forward to learning more about the experiences of the stateless Kurdish people.
“With my deep interest in political cinema, I am excited to be part of the Duhok International Film Festival. I look forward to learning more about the experiences of the stateless Kurdish people, their rich cultural identity and the social injustices they have faced in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.”
Meanwhile, the festival authorities, reflecting on their cinematic journey, stated: “Success begins with a decision and a decisive first step. As Kurds—especially those from Southern Kurdistan—our long history of oppression and violence initially delayed our use of cinema as a powerful medium of expression. Today, we are effectively using cinema to convey our message of humanity and to share our history of sacrifice with the world.”
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According to the release, Olivia Popp is a film writer, critic, and programmer concurrently completing an MA in Global Studies at Humboldt University of Berlin. Her film writing can primarily be found in the European trade publication Cineuropa, for which she also serves as the publication coordinator for the outlet’s GoCritic! emerging film critics workshop. As a curator, she supports International Film Festival Rotterdam’s editorial team and is a programmer for One World Slovakia Documentary Film Festival.
“Kovan Hussein has worked in the media sector for more than two decades, serving as a television producer, news editor, presenter, and film critic. Since 2014, he has been a lecturer at the University of Silêmanî, where he teaches film theory, visual culture, and media genres. His research focuses on media representation, identity in cinema, Kurdish media discourse, and cross-cultural film reception,” it stated.
“Meghachandra Kongbam is a film critic, academician, and activist based in Imphal and Delhi. He won the Golden Lotus Award for Best Film Critic at the 63rd National Film Awards in 2015. With a PG degree in Journalism from Banaras Hindu University and a film appreciation course from FTII Pune, he has written on cinema for four decades. The Executive Member of the International Film Critics (FIPRESCI)- India and President of the Film Society of Manipur, he has served on juries at numerous international film festivals. He authored the book “Manipuri Cinema” in 2021,” it added.