Lilon International Film Festival begins in IDP camp outside of Syria’s Afrin
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – The Lilon International Film Festival began on Monday in the Barkhwadan camp for those displaced from Syria’s Afrin in the village of Fafeen in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
The Festival began with showing a short film called Kurdê (Kurdish girl), starring the late Afrini artist Bave Salah.
The unique film was a surprise to start the festival with, because it has never been seen before, according to Muhyidin Arslan, an administrator in the festival’s preparatory committee.
The festival began by showing video messages from the films’ directors, in addition to folk singing and dancing performances representing the culture and heritage of Turkish-occupied Afrin.
“The Festival will last seven days, during which 58 nominees’ films will be shown,” Romat Bako, co-chair of the Culture and Art Movement in Afrin Region, told North Press.
The number 58 symbolizes the number of days that Afrin experienced the shelling of Turkish warplanes and bombardment by Turkish-backed opposition groups before they took over the Afrin region, Bako added.
Hundreds of displaced people from Afrin and several cultural and artistic figures from northeast Syria attended the festival so far.
The Film Commune in Rojava, an institution that concerned with film production in Autonomous Administration-held areas, is supervising the festival.