Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival
Please join us and the Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival (LAKFF) on Saturday, March 22 at 2:00 pm at the Frida Cinema for a special presentation of Soleen Yusef's multi-award-winning film WINNERS, presented with the support of the Goethe-Institut as part of this years LAKFF.
Germany (2024) 119 min. DCP Projection. German/English with English Subtitles
Writer-Director Soleen Yusef
Cinematographer Konstantin Kröning
Cast Dileyla Agirman, Andreas Döhler, Tamira Bwibo, Sherine Ciara Merai, Yumin Hannah Cho, Anisa Perk, Artemis Kostopoulou
Producers Sonja Schmitt, Marc Schmidheiny, Christoph Daniel
Co-producers Dario Suter, Joel Brandeis, Detlev Buck, Claus Boje
Production Company DCM Pictures GmbH
Co-production Company Boje Buck Produktion
The first day at a new school can be tough for any kid, but for 11-year-old Mona it’s downright chaotic. She and her Kurdish family have fled their home in Syria and ended up in Germany in search of a better life, but Mona is having a hard time fitting in. She’s still learning German and misses her hometown and playing soccer with her friends. Chaos is the order of the day at her new school, where most of the teachers are worn to a frazzle and the students are just as frustrated with their teachers. When Mr. Che, the coach of the girls’ soccer team sees Mona’s soccer skills, he puts her on the team. Although they are training for an upcoming tournament for all of Berlin’s schools, the team is anything but harmonious. Mona is singled-out and is blamed for the team’s troubles. With the tournament quickly approaching, they realize that if they want to win, they must stop fighting, treat each other as equals, and learn the true meaning of teamwork. Winner of the 2024 German Film Award for Best Children’s Film, Yusuf’s second feature is an inspirational, fast-paced coming-of-age film with a fresh, young perspective on the importance of family, friendship, and belonging.
AWARDS
German Film Award 2024 Best Children’s Film
Giffoni Film Festival Best Film Elements +10
FBW 2024 Seal of Approval: Highly Recommended
Deutsches Kinder Medien Festival Goldener Spatz 2024 Best Screenplay
© Curtis Brown
Soleen Yusef was born in Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 1987. At the age of nine she and her family fled to Berlin, Germany due to the political tensions in her home country. She graduated from high school in Berlin and later attended the Academy of Stage Arts, where she trained as a singer and an actress, and worked as an assistant in production, directing and distribution at mîtos film. In 2008, she began studying fiction directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Her third-year film TRATTORIA premiered at the 2012 Berlinale. Since making her debut feature film HAUS OHNE DACH (2016), for which she won awards including the First Steps Award, she has been working on international productions for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+. Soleen Yusef is one of GERMAN FILMS’ 2024 Face to Face with German Films ambassadors. SIEGER SEIN|WINNERS premiered in the USA at the German Currents Film Festival 2024.
The Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival (LAKFF) is avibrant cultural celebration showcasing the rich diversity of Kurdish stories from Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Through compelling films, this festival brings to light the complexities of Kurdish identity, history, and the ongoing struggles faced by Kurdish communities worldwide. With a diverse lineup of feature films, documentaries, and short films, LAKFF offers a platform for Kurdish filmmakers to share their voices, fostering dialogue and understanding around universal themes like displacement, resilience, and cultural preservation.
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