Hiner Saleem

Biography

Hiner Saleem (also transliterated as Hiner Salim) is an Iraqi–Kurdish film director. His memoir, My Father's Rifle, has been translated into several languages. Hiner Saleem was born in the town of Aqrah in Iraqi Kurdistan. He left Iraq at the age of 17, and soon made his way to Italy, where he completed school and attended university. Later on, he moved to France where he lives now.

In 1992, after the First Gulf War, he filmed undercover the living conditions of Iraqi Kurds. This footage was shown at the Venice Film Festival. In 1997, he made his first movie Vive la marie ... et la liberation du Kurdistan. This was followed by the films Passeurs de rêves (Beyond Our Dreams; 2000) Vodka Lemon (2003), Kilomètre Zéro (2005), Dol (2007), and Les Toits de Paris (Beneath the Rooftops of Paris; 2007).

Films at the Festival