Kurdish-Norwegian director Halkawt Mustafa’s “No Paradise If You Are Killed by a Woman,” a Hollywood-style thriller about a female Kurdish sniper who returns to Mosul to try and rescue her younger sister, has been selected by Iraq as the country’s official entry in the international feature category at the 99th Academy Awards.
“No Paradise If You Are Killed by a Woman” follows a female sniper named Vyan who returns to the battlefield she once escaped, driven by vengeance and by the desperate hope of rescuing her younger sister who is still imprisoned by ISIS. The thriller launched out-of-competition at the Venice Film Festival and also plays in Toronto.
Avan Jamal (“The Exam”) stars as Vyan, alongside Norwegian actor Thorbjørn Harr. The film’s main cast also comprises Kanar Sarchl and Kader Jalal.
Mustafa, who was born in Iraqi Kurdistan and fled to Norway as a child, wrote the film that is inspired by his encounter with a female Peshmerga sniper on the front line in 2014, according to a statement from the Norwegian Film Institute which supported the film’s production.
The film was shot on location in Mosul, Iraq, “using the city’s real streets and surroundings to create the physical and emotional authenticity Mustafa felt could only be achieved there,” the statement noted.
Mustafa previously directed the feature “El Clásico” and the documentary “Hiding Saddam Hussein” that was successfully released in movie theatres across the Arab world.
“No Paradise” is produced by Halkawt Mustafa, Janne Hjeltnes and John M. Jacobsen for Hene Films in Norway, in co-production with La Media in Iraqi Kurdistan and The Chimney Pot in Sweden.
Italy’s True Colours is handling international sales.
