ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish short documentary titled Laboratory No.2 will be showcased in the 17th edition of Shorts Mexico, an international short film festival taking place in the Latin country throughout the month.
Written and directed by Awara Omar and Edris Abdi, Laboratory No.2 tells the story of Hama Tofiq, an elderly man who’s been working as a civil servant in the medical laboratory department of the University of Sulaimani for 14 years.
The film has already been displayed in numerous international film festivals, receiving praise for depicting a fresh genre of Kurdish filmmaking.
“One of the feedbacks we got from the audience, which was very important to them, many of the filmmakers that came from South America were not very familiar with Kurds, or their only introduction to Kurdish people were through films that depict them [Kurds] as victims,” Abdi told Rudaw’s Banu Dilshad on Thursday.
Laboratory No.2 was awarded Best Kurdish Documentary Film at the 5th Sulaimani International Film Festival.
Shorts Mexico has provided a platform for young filmmakers to showcase their works in dozens of venues and for thousands of spectators since 2006. Over a thousand short films from around the world were displayed in last year’s edition.[1]