Jiyan made by self taught Kurdish/American filmmaker Jano Rosebiani, is a magnificent film. Seeing a film like this in the London Film Festival reminds you why you want to be in film making in the first place. It has all ingredients that makes a memorable and fantastic film.I Like good and natural acting, exquisite photography by Koutaiba Al Janabi, who made the maximum out of minimum resources. A story that matters and needs to be told urgently, and most of all a film with a warm beating heart.
What is it with those Kurdish films? Two years ago another fabulous Kurd, Bahman Ghobadi, made the wonderful A Time For Drunken Horses about mountain children smuggling to survive in very harsh conditions.
He meets a shy and sweet orphan girl Jiyan, which means life, slowly but gradually an intense and touching friendship develops. The only person who survived the chemical genocide of her family is her brother Sherko. Jiyan is my heart and soul, he says several times, she means everything for him. We meet all different people in Halabja: a woman who falls in love with Diyari. He denies her in a very gracious letter and explains he is honoured that she fancied him, but he is happily married with two children. Another magical character is an old man who refuses to talk anymore, after the killing of his wife and eight children. He plays the whole day on his flute on the roof of his house.
Much credit should also go to D.O.P Koutaiba Al Janabi, who excels in creating sublime images, his shots of the flute player on the roof at night, the capturing of a sandstorm, his sense of time and place are unforgettable. Koutaiba's genuine eye for the beauty and hardship on the faces of the Kurdish people is very impressive indeed. Quite a revelation to see a cinematographer who takes the time to frame and light with great care and not pan along rapidly without allowing people to really see.