***Please note this film has subtitles which will automatically appear on the screen.***
The Many Lives of Kojin is an experiment, the director, Diako Yazdani implies so himself. The film follows Yazdani, accompanied by Kojin, his 23-year-old gay friend, around the Iraqi countryside as they confront the director's devout family, friends and other members of the Kurdish community about the prejudices they hold against the LGBTQ+ community. The goal of the journey and of the film is to respectfully challenge and ultimately change their beliefs. The film is insightful and illuminating, providing intimate access to the subjects, shedding light on various aspects of Kurdish people and culture, while also showing what unites us all as fellow humans. The film is also auto-ethnographic in that Yazdani traces his own changing relationships with religion, family and society. His own transformation from hating homosexuality, to a grudging acceptance of homosexuals and then finally defending the rights of homosexuals in Kurdish society is an example of the best possible outcome of this filmic experiment.
- Year2019
- Runtime88 minutes
- LanguageKurdish
- CountryFrance
- PremiereNorth American Premiere
- NoteEnglish Subtitles
- DirectorDiako Yazdani
***Please note this film has subtitles which will automatically appear on the screen.***
The Many Lives of Kojin is an experiment, the director, Diako Yazdani implies so himself. The film follows Yazdani, accompanied by Kojin, his 23-year-old gay friend, around the Iraqi countryside as they confront the director's devout family, friends and other members of the Kurdish community about the prejudices they hold against the LGBTQ+ community. The goal of the journey and of the film is to respectfully challenge and ultimately change their beliefs. The film is insightful and illuminating, providing intimate access to the subjects, shedding light on various aspects of Kurdish people and culture, while also showing what unites us all as fellow humans. The film is also auto-ethnographic in that Yazdani traces his own changing relationships with religion, family and society. His own transformation from hating homosexuality, to a grudging acceptance of homosexuals and then finally defending the rights of homosexuals in Kurdish society is an example of the best possible outcome of this filmic experiment.
- Year2019
- Runtime88 minutes
- LanguageKurdish
- CountryFrance
- PremiereNorth American Premiere
- NoteEnglish Subtitles
- DirectorDiako Yazdani