Shawkat Amin Korki (b. 1973, Zakho) hails from Iraqi Kurdistan, but until 1999 he was forced for political reasons to live in Iran. He has worked in theater, television, and film. He shot several short- and medium-length films, including Balloons Fly (Seode badkonakha, 1997), Trap Door (Daricheh, 1998), When It Rains (Dema baran bet, 2000), Passage (Bazgeh, 2002), and Threat (Gef, 2005). His feature-length debut came in 2006 with the road movie Crossing the Dust (Parinawa la ghobar – screened at Rotterdam); set in the aftermath of the war in Iraq, two Kurds try to find the parents of a lost boy with the unfortunate name of Saddam.
48. MFF Karlovy Vary
