Sahim Omar Kalifa

Directing

Sahim Omar Kalifa

Born

1980-07-01 (46)

Place of birth

Zakho, Kurdistan, Iraq

Known for

Directing

Credits

19 titles

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 seve…

Known for

Black-out poster
6.4

When a nuclear plant is sabotaged, the power grid in Belgium crashes. Prime Minister Annemie Hillebrand is forced to prolong the blackout, otherwise her daughter -who has been kidnapped- will die. Can Michael Dendoncker of the counter terrorism unit, rescue the girl in a country that's off the grid.

Black-out

2020

Bad Hunter poster
6.4

Bahoz is 19 years old and lives surrounded by nature and beautiful landscapes. Every day, he goes to the mountains to hunt although he catches very little. But today will be the day that will change his life forever.

Bad Hunter

2013

Bread poster
6.5

Sahim Omar Kalifa's graduating Film. A Kurdish family is trying everything to obtain residence papers and stay in Belgium.

Bread

2008

Baghdad Messi poster
7.0

Iraq, 2009. Little Hamoudi (10) is totally obsessed with football. Just as the rest of the world, he and his friends are eagerly looking forward to the Champions League finale FC Barcelona-Manchester United. The long awaited clash between Messi and Ronaldo. But then Hamoudi's television breaks down... Short film, not to be confused with the 2023 feature film.

Baghdad Messi

2012

Land of the Heroes poster
5.8

Iraq, 1988. A land devastated by war (Iraq-Iran conflict). Dilleer (10) and his sister Zienee want to watch cartoons on television, but that becomes more difficult than expected when bully Malo comes along.

Land of the Heroes

2011

Zagros poster
7.3

Zagros (26) is a shepherd who lives in a Kurdish village with his pregnant wife Havin and their daughter. His father tells him that people gossip about Havin: there are rumours of her having an affair. Zagros brushes his father’s concerns away as he trusts his wife and refuses to give credit to the rumours. Later, while Zagros tends to his sheep, he learns that his family have accused Havin of adultery and locked her up. Zagros returns to his village but finds his wife and daughter gone. Havin has fled to the west with their daughter and unborn child. Zagros, believing his wife’s innocence and opposing his father, travels to Istanbul and meets a smuggler who can take him to the west…

Zagros

2017

Film credits

Series credits

Behind the camera

Bad Hunter poster
6.4

Bahoz is 19 years old and lives surrounded by nature and beautiful landscapes. Every day, he goes to the mountains to hunt although he catches very little. But today will be the day that will change his life forever.

Bad Hunter

2013

Bad Hunter poster
6.4

Bahoz is 19 years old and lives surrounded by nature and beautiful landscapes. Every day, he goes to the mountains to hunt although he catches very little. But today will be the day that will change his life forever.

Bad Hunter

2013

Bad Hunter poster
6.4

Bahoz is 19 years old and lives surrounded by nature and beautiful landscapes. Every day, he goes to the mountains to hunt although he catches very little. But today will be the day that will change his life forever.

Bad Hunter

2013

Bread poster
6.5

Sahim Omar Kalifa's graduating Film. A Kurdish family is trying everything to obtain residence papers and stay in Belgium.

Bread

2008

Bread poster
6.5

Sahim Omar Kalifa's graduating Film. A Kurdish family is trying everything to obtain residence papers and stay in Belgium.

Bread

2008

Bread poster
6.5

Sahim Omar Kalifa's graduating Film. A Kurdish family is trying everything to obtain residence papers and stay in Belgium.

Bread

2008

Baghdad Messi poster
7.0

Iraq, 2009. Little Hamoudi (10) is totally obsessed with football. Just as the rest of the world, he and his friends are eagerly looking forward to the Champions League finale FC Barcelona-Manchester United. The long awaited clash between Messi and Ronaldo. But then Hamoudi's television breaks down... Short film, not to be confused with the 2023 feature film.

Baghdad Messi

2012

Land of the Heroes poster
5.8

Iraq, 1988. A land devastated by war (Iraq-Iran conflict). Dilleer (10) and his sister Zienee want to watch cartoons on television, but that becomes more difficult than expected when bully Malo comes along.

Land of the Heroes

2011

Land of the Heroes poster
5.8

Iraq, 1988. A land devastated by war (Iraq-Iran conflict). Dilleer (10) and his sister Zienee want to watch cartoons on television, but that becomes more difficult than expected when bully Malo comes along.

Land of the Heroes

2011

Zagros poster
7.3

Zagros (26) is a shepherd who lives in a Kurdish village with his pregnant wife Havin and their daughter. His father tells him that people gossip about Havin: there are rumours of her having an affair. Zagros brushes his father’s concerns away as he trusts his wife and refuses to give credit to the rumours. Later, while Zagros tends to his sheep, he learns that his family have accused Havin of adultery and locked her up. Zagros returns to his village but finds his wife and daughter gone. Havin has fled to the west with their daughter and unborn child. Zagros, believing his wife’s innocence and opposing his father, travels to Istanbul and meets a smuggler who can take him to the west…

Zagros

2017

Zagros poster
7.3

Zagros (26) is a shepherd who lives in a Kurdish village with his pregnant wife Havin and their daughter. His father tells him that people gossip about Havin: there are rumours of her having an affair. Zagros brushes his father’s concerns away as he trusts his wife and refuses to give credit to the rumours. Later, while Zagros tends to his sheep, he learns that his family have accused Havin of adultery and locked her up. Zagros returns to his village but finds his wife and daughter gone. Havin has fled to the west with their daughter and unborn child. Zagros, believing his wife’s innocence and opposing his father, travels to Istanbul and meets a smuggler who can take him to the west…

Zagros

2017

Iraq's Invisible Beauty poster
8.3

Latif Al Ani photographed Iraq for 30 years before multiple wars arose. At the age of 86, he travels through his devastated country in search of the people and places he photographed at the time, sharing his pictures with Iraqis who today cannot imagine that the world in the photographs was real.

Iraq's Invisible Beauty

2022

Iraq's Invisible Beauty poster
8.3

Latif Al Ani photographed Iraq for 30 years before multiple wars arose. At the age of 86, he travels through his devastated country in search of the people and places he photographed at the time, sharing his pictures with Iraqis who today cannot imagine that the world in the photographs was real.

Iraq's Invisible Beauty

2022

Cornered in Molenbeek poster
NR

Mainstream media have described the Brussels district of Molenbeek as the "jihad capital of Europe," after several suspects in the terrorist attacks on France and Belgium were revealed to have been recruited from its large Muslim community. In the heart of this troubled neighbourhood, Coiffure Zaïdi, a barber shop sitting just opposite a mosque, serves as a meeting place for locals of all ages. This is where award-winning director Sahim Omar Kalifa installed his camera, capturing casual conversations between clients of North African origins. As shocked and dismayed by recent events as anyone else, they discuss unemployment and failed integration, immigration policies and government surveillance. With a fly-on-the-wall approach to these animated debates, and a keen, humanizing eye for the most significant details, Kalifa composes a charming and vivid tableau of a population continually stigmatized and circumscribed by media stereotypes.

Cornered in Molenbeek

2018

Cornered in Molenbeek poster
NR

Mainstream media have described the Brussels district of Molenbeek as the "jihad capital of Europe," after several suspects in the terrorist attacks on France and Belgium were revealed to have been recruited from its large Muslim community. In the heart of this troubled neighbourhood, Coiffure Zaïdi, a barber shop sitting just opposite a mosque, serves as a meeting place for locals of all ages. This is where award-winning director Sahim Omar Kalifa installed his camera, capturing casual conversations between clients of North African origins. As shocked and dismayed by recent events as anyone else, they discuss unemployment and failed integration, immigration policies and government surveillance. With a fly-on-the-wall approach to these animated debates, and a keen, humanizing eye for the most significant details, Kalifa composes a charming and vivid tableau of a population continually stigmatized and circumscribed by media stereotypes.

Cornered in Molenbeek

2018

Baghdad Messi poster
NR

The talented Hamoudi is an 11-year-old boy with a passion for soccer and an ultimate dream to one day reach the level of his idol Lionel Messi. The day Hamoudi is caught in a horrific suicide attempt, he wakes up severely injured in a hospital. As his parents struggle to keep the family safe, Hamoudi is determined to fight for his shattered dream.

Baghdad Messi

2023

No artwork available
NR

Iconic photographer Latif al-Ani travels across Iraq to find the people and places he took photos of before the wars. Acclaimed photographer Latif al-Ani, born in Baghdad in 1932, is known as the father of Iraqi photography. As the official photographer for presidents and the Iraqi Petroleum Company, his portfolio forms a unique visual archive of Iraq during its heyday from the 1950s to 1970s. His photos capture the abundance and complexity of a modern and cosmopolitan nation living in peace and harmony. But when Saddam Hussein rose to power, al-Ani stopped taking photos. After decades of war, al-Ani travels across Iraq with his photographs in search of the remnants of his beautiful country.

Iraq’s Invisible Beauty: Through Latif al-Ani’s Lens

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