The Kurdish film Harsh Earth and Distant Sky, directed by Hawraz Mohammed, has been selected for the 45th Cambridge International Film Festival in the United Kingdom. The festival will host the film’s first international screenings following its release in cinemas in the Kurdistan Region.
Filmed mainly in the borderlands of Kurdistan, the 102-minute drama explores guilt, memory and the lasting psychological effects of war. It follows Haroon, a Kurdish revolutionary struggling with the emotional burdens of his past as he searches for peace and a way to reconcile with what he has experienced.
Haroon’s journey leads him first to Yarsani religious music and later to Mariam, a Kurdish woman living in a remote village where the borders of Iraq, Iran and Turkey meet. Mariam is known for the traditional Kurdish practice of body tattooing, which forms part of the film’s cultural setting.
Mohammed said the film addresses the moral and psychological consequences of war and internal conflict, subjects he believes are rarely discussed openly in Kurdish society. Rather than portraying war through violence and spectacle, the film focuses on what remains after conflict: grief, guilt and wounds that affect individuals, families, communities and the land itself.
The director said the border region carries particular meaning because, although political boundaries have divided Kurdistan, people from different parts of the region continue to meet and share cultural traditions.
“I wanted to tell this story because, after wars and internal conflicts, people carry guilt and grief, and I also wanted to raise the question of whether forgiveness can open a way out of that situation,” Mohammed said.
He explained that the film uses the landscape, nature, Yarsani music and the ancient Kurdish tradition of tattooing to explore memory, healing and reconciliation.
The director described the Cambridge selection as an important step in the film’s international journey. He said the festival offers an opportunity for British audiences, critics and reviewers to engage with Kurdish cinema and the experiences it portrays.
Produced in the Kurdistan Region, the film is in Kurdish and brings together actors and crew members from the four main parts of Kurdistan. Hawraz Mohammed and Mansour Tayfouri wrote the screenplay, while Salem Salavati handled cinematography.
The main roles are played by Mariam Boubani, Bakhtiar Panjeei, Dimen Zandi and Ezhdar Sazgar. The film is scheduled to be screened twice during the festival.
Through its exploration of war’s aftermath and the possibility of forgiveness, Harsh Earth and Distant Sky brings Kurdish history, culture and human experiences to an international audience.
