Sahim Omar Kalifa

Director · born 1 July 1980 · Zakho, Kurdistan, Iraq

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 several international Awards at some important film festivals, like Jury Award at 59th Valladolid, 38th Montreal World, Dubai IFF and Flickerfest International Film Festival. 2014, Sahim was chosen in Istanbul as Best Kurdish film director. In 2016 Sahim became a member of the Academy Awards 'The Oscars'. He can vote for the Oscar awards [4]

Where to start: Iraq’s Invisible Beauty: Through Latif al-Ani’s Lens.