Hundreds of film lovers gathered at Sulaimani’s City Cinema on Tuesday evening for the premiere of the first ever Kurdish Horror film titled Kifn.

The movie, co-produced by Ava Media and Metronome Productions, is the first of its genre to be produced in the Kurdistan Region.

Speaking to The New Region, director Srwsht Abarash, talked about how he perceived the reaction to his debut cinematic film.

“As the Kurdish nation, we are trying to build our cinema, but the problem is we do not have every genre,” he said. “I was sitting down and I could hear people scream and shout, it was such an honor to get that reaction for the first Kurdish horror movie.”

The energy inside the theater was different. People were for the first time watching a horror movie made in their mother tongue, and the story was based on tales that almost every Kurdish individual was familiar with.

The story revolves around the concept of dark magic and Jin (evil spirits) which are widely perceived to be true in Islamic and Kurdish cultures.

To many, it was the recollection of once having heard a similar story that brought chills to their bones.

“This is the first ever Kurdish movie in this genre, I can say that I liked it and it is something new for our region, and I believe in all my colleagues’ capacity, they can definitely bring new ideas into the industry,” Cultural Diplomat and artist Soran Nakshbandy told The New Region.

The film industry has slowly been evolving over the past few years. With several production agencies being established and fresh faces emerging with immense creativity, there have been several different high quality and cinematic films produced.

However, despite the ongoing efforts, there is still more that can be done and should be done to ensure that Kurdish movies are taken into a global market.

“I started working on this movie because it was the first thriller and horror movie produced here locally in Kurdish language,” Production Supervisor of the movie and General Manager of City Cinema Yad Abdulkarim told The New Region.

“My vision is to try to open up the market, not only the local market, we are trying to export our cinema industry outside, especially in the region,” he said.

According to Abdulkarim, previous attempts at exporting Kurdish cinema have failed due to numerous reasons, but this time around, the horizon looks brighter than before.

“We have tried a lot to do this with the past films produced here in Kurdistan, but we have not been successful for different reasons,” he said. “I think with these kinds of movies, stories, and production, we have a very good chance to expand our market and export our movies to other markets.”

To everyone who spoke to The New Region, development in Kurdish cinema is not impossible, but requires collaborative efforts from all stakeholders.

“Improving the industry of cinema in the Kurdistan Region is something that we all want to happen, with this new start, I believe we are taking another step forward, which is bringing in new talents, that is how the industry starts everywhere,” Nakshbandy said.

To Abarash, media is one of the key factors in making sure the field is developing.

“Without the media, it is impossible to do something like this,” he said. “There is a lot that they can do, more than the film, the distribution, and the screening.”

Kifn is set to be screened on cinema screens across the Kurdistan Region, starting in Sulaimani and then moving to other cities.