World News
9th Duhok International Film Fest Winners Announced
The winners of various competition categories of World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema in the 9th edition of the Duhok International Film Festival of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have been announced.
The closing ceremony of the latest round was held commemorating Yılmaz Güney, the prominent 1982 Palme d’Or winning filmmaker, at the congregation hall of Duhok University, in the city of Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and the winners in different categories were announced, with the golden and silver grape leaf statues, appreciation plaques, and cash prizes distributed amongst them.
The closing ceremony hosted the following guests: Dr. Ali Tatar, governor of Duhok, Dr. Salar Osman, deputy minister of culture and youth in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Ameer Ali Mohammed Tahir, president of Duhok International Film Festival president, Indian consulate to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Shawkat Amin Korki, artistic manager of the festival, Members of the jury for the World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema competition categories Filmmakers and cinema lovers.
World Cinema – in competition:
The ceremony continued with members of the jury in the World Cinema competition category including Edvinas Puksta, Mirona Radu, Mahmoud Kalari, Sergio Gomez, and Tahsin Isbilen, Soleen Yusef, Kurdish filmmaker residing in Germany, jury president, Shahram Alidi, Iranian producer, screenwriter, and filmmaker residing in France, Magnus Bärtås, university lecturer from Sweden, Elaheh Nobakht, producer and distributor from Iran, Mehdi Omed, Kurdish screenwriter and director residing in Sweden announcing the winners as follows:
The Yılmaz Güney Award was granted to Maryna Er Gorbach for the feature-length film “Klondike”, a joint production of Ukraine and Turkey.
The jury’s special award was granted to “Until Tomorrow” by Ali Asgari, co-produced by Iran and France.
The New Talent award was granted to “Fragments of Heaven” by Adnane Baraka, jointly produced by France and Morocco.
Kurdish Cinema – in competition:
The members of the jury of the 9th edition of the Duhok International Film Festival Kurdish cinema experimental shorts competition were the following: Marcus Tellechea, producer from Brazil, jury president, Burhan Ozkan, producer from Turkey, Muriel Aboulrouss, director of photography from Lebanon, Hishyar Nerway, actor and director from Kurdistan Region, Dr. Kawthar M. Ali Jabara, university lecturer and critic from Iraq, who announced the winners as follows:
Hussein Hassan won the Best Director award for the feature-length film “The Rain Bride”, a joint production of Germany and the Kurdistan region.
Mano Khalil won the Best Screenplay award for “Neighbors” from Sweden.
Bengin Ali and Hussein Hassan from Kurdistan Region won the Best Actor award for the feature-length film “The Rain Bride”.
Şilan Düzdaban from Turkey won the Best Actress award for “The Rain Bride”.
The jury’s special award was given to Semin Yildiz from Turkey for the cinematography of “The Rain Bride”.
Duhok’s provincial government’s award was presented to “The Rain Bride” directed by Hussein Hassan from Kurdistan Region.
The jury’s special award was handed to the teenage actor Serhed Khalil from Kurdistan Region for his performance in the feature-length film “Neighbors”.
Shorts – competition:
The members of the jury in the competition section of the Shorts – competition in the 9th edition of the Duhok International Film Festival were the following: Jenifer Malmqvist, screenwriter and director from Sweden, jury president, Aboozar Amini, Afghan director residing in the Netherlands, Mohammed Shaikhow, from the Kurdistan Region. They announced the winners of this section as follows:
The best international film award was handed to “Split Ends” directed by Alireza Kazemipour, a joint production of Iran and Canada.
The Best Kurdish Film award was given to the short film “The Banishment” directed by Yılmaz Özdil from Turkey.
The jury’s special award was granted to the short film “Prelude of a Corpse” directed by Arin İnan Arslan from Turkey.
The jury’s special award was given to Sarina Taraghi from Iran, for her performance in the short film “Congenital” jointly directed by Saman Hosseinpour and Ako Zandkarimi.
Documentary – in competition:
The members of the jury in the Documentary – in competition were the following: Paxton Winters, filmmaker from the US, jury president, Anas Boelicke, filmmaker from Germany and president of Goethe Institute in Iraq, Reber Dosky, Kurdish filmmaker residing in the Netherlands. They announced the winners of this section as follows:
The feature-length documentary “Mother Tongue” directed by Serkew Mesgari from Iran received the best Kurdish documentary award.
“The Marble Travelogue” directed by Sean Wang, a joint production of the Netherlands, Hong Kong, France, and Greece, won the best international documentary award.
The jury’s special award for best Kurdish documentary was given to “For Justice” directed by Elif Yiğit from Turkey.
FIPRESCI Award:
The FIPRESCI jury comprises the were the following: Sebahattin Şen, researcher and university lecturer from Turkey, jury president, Giulia Dobre, visual anthropologist and critic from Romania, Vassilis Kechagias, critic from Greece. They announced the winner of this section as follows:
Members of the FIPRESCI jury presented their prize to “Pirebok” directed by Lütfü Irdem from Turkey.
Jury members of “World Cinema” competition category in this festival donated grant a statue, a plaque, and Yılmaz Güney’s $10,000 award to best feature film, $5000 to best director, $5000 to best international short film, $5000 to new talent, jury’s special $1500 award to best short and the French Goethe Institute’s $5000 dollar award to best international documentary.
Duhok International Film Festival, presided by Ameer Ali Mohammed Tahir, with artistic management by Shawkat Amin Korki, and in memoriam of Yılmaz Güney, the 1982 Palme d’or winner in Cannes, is in an effort to bridge the gap between Kurdish directors and those from the rest of the world, facilitating cultural exchanges among the nations all around the world.
The 9th edition of this festival 97 other films in feature format, short, or documentary, in competition or out of competition categories: “World Cinema” competition category includes 9 feature films, 8 documentaries, and 11 shorts; “Kurdish Cinema” competition category contains 5 features films, 6 documentaries, and 15 shorts; “World Vision” includes 6 feature films, 4 documentaries, and 3 shorts; “Kurdish Cinema Panorama” category contains 19 shorts; “Special Screening of Sweden Cinema” with 9 feature films; “Special Screening of Kurdish Cinema” with 1 feature film and 1 documentari, heldscreened in Docember 1 to 8, 2022.
For more details:
World News
Meryl Streep Guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the 77th Festival de Cannes
Meryl Streep will be the guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the 77th Festival de Cannes which will take place on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière on Tuesday, May 14. A celebrated figure in American cinema, the American actress will kick-off the upcoming edition which will draw to a close on Saturday, May 25th with the awards’ list given by the President of the Jury, Greta Gerwig.
After Jeanne Moreau, Marco Bellocchio, Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jane Fonda, Agnès Varda, Forest Whitaker or Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep will receive the Festival’s Honorary Palme d’or. 35 years after winning the Best Actress award for Evil Angels, her only appearance in Cannes to date, Meryl Streep will be making her long-awaited return to the Croisette.
“I am immeasurably honored to receive the news of this prestigious award. To win a prize at Cannes, for the international community of artists, has always represented the highest achievement in the art of filmmaking. To stand in the shadow of those who have previously been honored is humbling and thrilling in equal part. I so look forward to coming to France to thank everyone in person this May!” Meryl Streep stated.
“We all have something in us of Meryl Streep!” Iris Knobloch and Thierry Frémaux said. “We all have something in us of Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County, The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia! Because she has spanned almost 50 years of cinema and embodied countless masterpieces, Meryl Streep is part of our collective imagination, our shared love of cinema.”
After her drama studies and initial success on New York City stages, Meryl Streep’s career took off on the big screen in 1978 with The Deer Hunter, starring Robert De Niro. In Michael Cimino’s film, Meryl Streep wrote all her lines to give her character nuance and depth. This marked both her first Oscar nomination — now reaching a record 21 — and her demand to play strong, ambivalent women. For example, when she starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer, she refused to let the film revolve around the male lead and rewrote a crucial monologue. She went on to win her first Oscar, and quickly gained recognition from the audiences and the industry alike.
Meryl Streep uses her intuition and hard work to reinvent herself with every appearance. Even on the scale of a film: in Karel Reisz’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman, she played two roles. In Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice, her acting addresses a mother’s inconceivable moral dilemma. For this character, she studied German and Polish to take on the accent — impeccable according to Andrzej Wajda — and won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Sidney Pollack’s unforgettable historical, romantic epic Out of Africa (1985) marked a new turning point, in which she and Robert Redford formed one of cinema’s most legendary couples. Far from confining herself to the register of passionate love, Meryl Streep also ventured into darker characters. In Fred Schepisi’s 1988 Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark), she played a mother accused of infanticide. Her performance earned her the Best Actress Award at the 1989 Festival de Cannes.
In the 1990s, she tried her hand at gritty comedy: she challenged female stereotypes in Mike Nichols’ Postcards from the Edge and Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her. In The Bridges of Madison County, she captured the screen alongside Clint Eastwood in a love story as impossible as it is timeless, that went down in cinema history.
Throughout her career, Meryl Streep has never shied away from publicly denouncing the precarious position of women in the film industry. Aware of the issues surrounding the representation of women in Hollywood movies, and keen to embody all their facets in all their complexity and fragility, Meryl Streep plays a wide variety of roles and genres. After Stephen Daldry’s The Hours and Robert Altman’s The Last Show, it was in two roles as funny as unexpected that she once again made her mark: as the cantankerous editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine in The Devil Wears Prada and Donna, a hippie who marries off her daughter in the musical Mamma Mia! She went on to star in biopics (The Iron Lady, Florence Foster Jenkins, Julie & Julia), political satyres (Lions for Lambs, Pentagon Papers, Don’t Look Up) and family films such as Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, who serves as President of the Jury at this year’s Festival de Cannes.
Two women, two generations, two aspirations, and the same passion for the Seventh Art, brought together on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière.
World News
Former US Army Servicemember, Sanda G. Frimpong Sentenced to Prison in Money Laundering Romance Scam
Sanda G. Frimpong, 33, was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison and ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution to victims for laundering the illicit proceeds of an elaborate series of romance scams. Frimpong pled guilty to three counts of money laundering on September 14, 2023.
“Romance scammers exploit our most vulnerable citizens, even our seniors and military veterans, sometimes leaving them financially and emotionally devastated,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “The fact that an Army servicemember was involved in romance scams while serving as a soldier is appalling. We are partnering with the Department of Defense to drum out fraudsters and money launderers like Frimpong from our military ranks and put them in prison where they belong.”
“Integrity is a core tenet of the armed forces and when servicemembers choose to compromise their integrity for greed, it tarnishes the reputation of all others serving in uniform,” stated Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Mid-Atlantic Field Office. “DCIS and its law enforcement partners will continue to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to hold those accountable who cheat government programs and use online scams to prey on the most vulnerable.”
Frimpong and other conspirators, engaged in elaborate scams, impersonating romantic love interests, diplomats, customs personnel, military personnel, and other fictitious personas for the purpose of ensnaring their victims by earning their confidence, including promises of romance, sharing of an inheritance or other riches, or other scenarios intended to fraudulently induce the victims to provide money or property to the conspirators. Frimpong then laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds of these frauds through his various bank accounts across state lines and through his contacts in Ghana. Frimpong was also an active-duty Army servicemember stationed at Fort Bragg during the commission of the offenses up until shortly after his arrest in 2023.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III announced the sentence. Defense Criminal Investigative Service led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Beraka prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:23-CR-0035-D.
World News
US Army Major Kojo Owusu Dartey Found Guilty After He Smuggled Guns to Ghana in Blue Barrels of Rice and Home Goods
US Army Major Kojo Owusu Dartey, 42, was convicted for smuggling firearms to Ghana in blue barrels disguised as containing rice and household goods.
The incident, which took place in April 2024, has sparked widespread discussion on social media platforms. Dartey, involved in a marriage fraud scheme, faces a maximum sentence of 240 months and is scheduled for sentencing on July 23, 2024. The case has raised questions about the motives behind the smuggling and the potential implications for national security.
A US Army Major, Kojo Owusu Dartey, known for his role in the US special forces, has been found guilty of smuggling firearms to Ghana hidden in blue barrels of rice and household goods.
The 42-year-old is facing a maximum sentence of 240 months and awaits sentencing on July 23,… pic.twitter.com/o28I3wZOKd
— EDHUB🌍ℹ (@eddie_wrt) April 30, 2024
A federal jury convicted a United States Army Major, currently assigned to Fort Liberty, on charges of dealing in firearms without a license, delivering firearms without notice to the carrier, smuggling goods from the United States, illegally exporting firearms without a license, making false statements made to an agency of the United States, making false declarations before the court, and conspiracy. Kojo Owusu Dartey, age 42, faces a maximum penalty of 240 months when sentenced on July 23, 2024.
Read Also: Abena Korkor says she’s found love in a bipolar American army officer
“We are partnering with law enforcement agencies across the globe to expose international criminals – from money launderers to rogue international arms traffickers capable of fueling violence abroad,” said U.S Attorney Michael Easley. “Through a partnership with Ghanaian officials, this rogue Army Major was convicted at trial after smuggling guns to Ghana in blue barrels of rice and household goods. I want to thank the Ghana Revenue Authority and the International Cooperation Unit Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana for their assistance in the investigation. I also commend the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attachés to U.S. Embassy Accra and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division for their significant assistance to this prosecution.”
“Far from being a victimless crime, firearms trafficking threatens public safety across our nation and beyond,” said Toni M. Crosby, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division. “The Baltimore Field Division is proud to partner with the Ghana Revenue Authority and ATF’s Charlotte and Louisville Field Divisions for this investigation, which has kept firearms off the streets — preventing them from being used in any number of killings and other crimes — and ended this international firearm trafficking scheme.”
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, between June 28 and July 2, 2021, Dartey purchased seven firearms in the Fort Liberty area and tasked a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to purchase three firearms there and send them to Dartey in North Carolina. Dartey then hid all the firearms, including multiple handguns, an AR15, 50-round magazines, suppressors, and a combat shotgun inside blue barrels underneath rice and household goods and smuggled the barrels out of the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, on a container ship to the Port of Tema in Ghana. The Ghana Revenue Authority recovered the firearms and reported the seizure to the DEA attaché in Ghana and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division. At the same time, Dartey was a witness in the trial of U.S. v. Agyapong. A case that involved a 16-defendant marriage fraud scheme between soldiers on Fort Liberty and foreign nationals from Ghana that Dartey had tipped off officials to. In preparation for the trial, Dartey lied to federal law enforcement about his sexual relationship with a defense witness and lied on the stand and under oath about the relationship.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted the verdict. The ATF, Army Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Diaz prosecuted it with technical assistance from David Ryan, DOJ Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
World News
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