Director Mano Khalil

Inside Kurdistan

In the last interview from the Duhok International Film Festival, Mano Khalil discusses his film: Neighbors, a film that explores a Syrian village's Arabization as Assad's Baathist regime begins to assert it's influence in the northern Kurdish region of the country. The story focuses on 6-year-old Sero, as he observes his classes change with a new teacher, and sees his own Jewish neighbors face increased pressure to leave Syria altogether.

Khalil discusses the film's reception, with Jewish, Arab and Kurdish audiences, and the importance and delicacy of scriptwriting when discussing themes of Kurdish oppression, anti-Semitism and the legacy of Ba'athism in the Middle East.

Frame Films:

https://www.framefilm.ch/en/

Trailer for Neighbors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSzkntElVEY&ab_channel=FrameFilm

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