Sahim Omar Kalifa (born 1980 in

Zakho Zakho, also spelled Zaxo (, , , , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region, at the centre of the Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing. Zakho is known for its celebrations of Newr ...

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

) is a Belgian-

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

based in Belgium.

Life and career

In 2001, he came to Belgium, and in 2008 he got his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in filmmaking at Sint-Lukas Film School,

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. With his

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Nan'', Kalifa won the Best Flemish Student Film at the Leuven International Short Film Festival. Kalifa has won more than 100 international awards for his short films ''Land of the Heroes'', ''Baghdad Messi'', and ''Bad Hunter''. The biggest achievements so far are: A-Jury Prize as Best Short film for ‘Land of the heroes’ at the

61st Berlin International Film Festival The 61st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 February 2011, with actress Isabella Rossellini as the president of the jury. The Coen Brothers film ''True Grit (2010 film), True Grit'' opened the festival. 300,000 tick ...

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B- ‘Baghdad Messi’ was shortlisted for the 87th Academy Awards, better known as The Oscars. It was one of the 10 finalists. C- ‘Bad Hunter’ was also shortlisted for the 88th Academy Awards. D- ZAGROS ‘Feature Film’: Winner of The Grand Prix For BEST FILM at 44th Ghent Film Festival. Audience Award for Best Film at 18th Arras Film Festival – France. Best Director at 18th Arras Film Festival – France. Audience Award for Best Film at 35th Annonay Film Festival – France. 47th Rotterdam International Film Festival – Official selection. 72nd Edinburgh Film Festival – Official Selection - UK. 35th Munich Film Festival – Official Selection. 42nd Montreal World Film Festival - Canada. ''Bad Hunter'' won the Jury Prize in the Muhr Short Film Competition at the 2014

Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ) was the largest film festival in the Arab world, Arab region. With particular emphasis on showcasing Arab cinema, Arab, Asian cinema, Asian, and African cinema, it also helped to develop industry a ...

. ‘Bad Hunter’ won also several international Awards at some important film festivals, like Jury Award at 59th Valladolid, 38th Montreal World, Dubai IFF and Flickerfest International Film Festival. 2014, Sahim was chosen in Istanbul as Best Kurdish film director. In 2016 Sahim was invited to be one of the more than 6,000 voting members of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

. In 2017 his Documentary Film ‘Cornered in Molenbeek’ has won Best Belgian Documentary TV Series at Docville Documentary Film Festival. And also selected for Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival – Official competition In May 2016, Sahim started filming his first feature film ''Zagros,'' supported by Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (VAF), Dutch Film Fund and

Eurimages Eurimages is a cultural support fund of the Council of Europe, established in . Eurimages promotes independent filmmaking by providing financial support to feature-length fiction, animation, and documentary films. In doing so, it encourages co-op ...

. His documentary film ''Iraq's Invisible Beauty'' tells the story of the late Iraqi photographer

Latif al-Ani Al-Latif (''Al-Laṭīf'' , also anglicized as ''Al-Lateef'') is one of the names of God in Islam, meaning "kind". Latif can also be a masculine given name, as short form of Abdul Latif, meaning "servant of the Gentle". Its feminine form is Latif ...

and his photographic documentation of Iraq between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2021, Sahim began filming the feature film '' Baghdad Messi'', based on his 2012 short film. It had its world premiere on January 28, 2023, at the Ostend Film Festival. In August 2024, his film was selected as the Iraqi entry for the Best International Feature Film at the

97th Academy Awards The 97th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly r ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalifa, Sahim Omar Living people 1980 births Belgian film directors Kurdish film directors