Snow Leopard Competition
Baghdad Messi
ميسي بغداد
Iraq’s Submission for the 97th Academy Awards®
Followed by Q&A
88 min | Drama | 2023 | Iraq | Arabic | English Subs
Synopsis:
Hamoudi (11) lives for football and his dream of being as outstanding as his hero Lionel Messi. One day, when he is unintentionally involved in an attack, he wakes up in hospital with only one leg. While his parents do everything to keep the family safe, Hamoudi fights to achieve his dream in spite of everything.
Schedule
Nov 14, 2024 | 07:00 PM
Director
Sahim Omar Kalifa
Born 1980 Zakho, Iraqi Kurdistan, is a Belgian-Kurdish filmmaker based in Belgium. In 2001, he came to Belgium, and in 2008 he got his Master’s degree in filmmaking at Sint-Lukas Film School, Brussels. Kalifa has won 96 international awards with 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 – Generation. B- ‘Baghdad Messi’ was shortlisted for the 87th Academy awards, the Oscars. It was one of the 10 finalists. C- ‘Bad Hunter’ was also shortlisted for the 88th Academy awards, the Oscars. ‘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 became a member of the Academy Awards ‘ The Oscars’. He can vote for the Oscar awards summer 2016, Sahim had filmed his debut film ‘Zagros’ which has been supported by Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (VAF), Dutch Film Fund and Eurimages.
Credits
Director:
Sahim Omar Kalifa
Producer:
Hendrik Verthé
Kobe Van Steenberghe
Cinematography:
Anton Mertens
Editing:
Dorith Vinken
Cast:
Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah
Zahraa Ghandour
Atheer Adel
Safa Najem
Screenwriters:
Sahim Omar Kalifa
Kobe Van Steenberghe
Music:
Michelino Bisceglia
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