This documentary follows the lives of Yazidi women who were kidnapped and enslaved by ISIS in 2014 and their struggle to rebuild their lives after escaping captivity. As they attempt to heal from their trauma through art, they find guidance and hope from theater producer Uncle Hussein. The film is set primarily in refugee camps in Iraqi Kurdistan and the sacred Yazidi temple of Lalish.

This film will be presented in its original Kurdish language with English subtitles.

The Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival (LAKFF) is a vibrant cultural celebration showcasing the rich diversity of Kurdish stories from Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Through compelling films, this festival brings to light the complexities of Kurdish identity, history, and the ongoing struggles faced by Kurdish communities worldwide. With a diverse lineup of feature films, documentaries, and short films, LAKFF offers a platform for Kurdish filmmakers to share their voices, fostering dialogue and understanding around universal themes like displacement, resilience, and cultural preservation.

This program is a venue rental engagement. Member discounts and Frida Cinema comp passes not valid. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.

Director Mirabbas Khosravinezhad’s new film Parvin is screening as part of The Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival.

A rural teenage girl secretly brings her boyfriend home when no one is around. However, when her family unexpectedly returns, she must quickly find a way to get him out.

The Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival (LAKFF) is a vibrant cultural celebration showcasing the rich diversity of Kurdish stories from Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Through compelling films, this festival brings to light the complexities of Kurdish identity, history, and the ongoing struggles faced by Kurdish communities worldwide. With a diverse lineup of feature films, documentaries, and short films, LAKFF offers a platform for Kurdish filmmakers to share their voices, fostering dialogue and understanding around universal themes like displacement, resilience, and cultural preservation. This film will be presented in its original Kurdish language with English subtitles.This film will be presented in its original Kurdish language with English subtitles.

This program is a venue rental engagement. Member discounts and Frida Cinema comp passes not valid. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.

Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’État is a gripping documentary that examines the intersection of music, politics, and Cold War-era power struggles in Africa.

The film explores the 1961 assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, revealing how Western governments —particularly the U.S. and Belgium — manipulated political events to maintain control over Africa’s resources. Against this backdrop of covert operations and geopolitical maneuvering, the documentary highlights the role of jazz musicians, such as Louis Armstrong, who were sent as cultural ambassadors, often unknowingly aiding in political cover-ups.

Three teenage friends stuck in a refugee camp in the frozen north of Norway come up with a plan to escape over the mountain to a world where their dreams can be fulfilled. But when one of them falls in love, their plan begins to unravel.

Hisham Zaman’s third feature film, A Happy Day, World premiered at Toronto International Film Festival’s Centrepiece section in 2023. Regarded as one of Norway’s leading auteur directors, Zaman is best known for his films exploring themes related to migration, identity and belonging. His previous features Before Snowfall (2013) and Letter to the King (2014) both won the coveted Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the Gothenburg International Film Festival. A Happy Day is a bold and artistic film, absurdly located in remote northern Norway amidst the vast, snow-covered landscapes of northern Norway.

This film will be presented in its original Norwegian language with English subtitles.

The Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival (LAKFF) is a vibrant cultural celebration showcasing the rich diversity of Kurdish stories from Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Through compelling films, this festival brings to light the complexities of Kurdish identity, history, and the ongoing struggles faced by Kurdish communities worldwide. With a diverse lineup of feature films, documentaries, and short films, LAKFF offers a platform for Kurdish filmmakers to share their voices, fostering dialogue and understanding around universal themes like displacement, resilience, and cultural preservation.

This program is a venue rental engagement. Member discounts and Frida Cinema comp passes not valid. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.

Our first Volunteer Of The Month pick comes courtesy of Vivian, who has selected Wes Anderson’s star-studded ensemble dramady The Royal Tenenbaums!

Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children and then they separated. All three children are extraordinary — all geniuses. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father’s fault. This is the story of the family’s sudden, unexpected reunion one recent Winter.

Starring Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, Bill Murray and many many other amazing actors that would undoubtedly become part of the Wes Anderson troupe, The Royal Tenenbaums remains the director’s magnum opus; a film (and soundtrack) that has only gotten better with time.

Join The Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival as they present a special screening of When The Walnut Leaves Turn Yellow, the new film from director Mehmet Ali Konar!

Ciwan is the village chief, a righteous and humble family man. Day in and day out, he rushes through his village duties and tending to his livestock. Two steps behind him is his 14-year-old son Feyzi, wondering why he has to learn everything right now. What he doesn’t know is that his father is seriously ill and time is running out. Mehmet Ali Konar effectively combines harsh realism with magic in his third film about an ever-vulnerable ethnic group, also delivering a heartwarming father-son portrait.

The Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival (LAKFF) is a vibrant cultural celebration showcasing the rich diversity of Kurdish stories from Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Through compelling films, this festival brings to light the complexities of Kurdish identity, history, and the ongoing struggles faced by Kurdish communities worldwide. With a diverse lineup of feature films, documentaries, and short films, LAKFF offers a platform for Kurdish filmmakers to share their voices, fostering dialogue and understanding around universal themes like displacement, resilience, and cultural preservation.

This film will be presented in its original Kurdish language with English subtitles.

This program is a venue rental engagement. Member discounts and Frida Cinema comp passes not valid. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.

Hot off of its Academy Award for International Feature Film, Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here is finally making its way to The Frida Cinema!

Starring the incomparable Fernanda Torres (also nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars), the story is set in 1971, when Brazil’s military dictatorship has reached its height. The Paiva family — Rubens, Eunice, and their five children — live in a beachside house in Rio, open to all their friends. One day, Rubens is taken for questioning and does not return.

Thank you to our friends at Sony Picture Classics for letting us play this wonderful film.

The Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival presents Ayse Polat’s new film In The Blind Spot! 

A German crew is filming a documentary in north-eastern Turkey, more precisely in a remote Kurdish village, where they witness an elderly woman performing a recurring ritual to keep the memory of her missing son alive. The German team’s Kurdish translator is also the nanny of Melek, a seven-year-old Turkish girl. Her father, Zafer, works for a sinister organisation, and is caught between loyalty and fear for his family’s well-being when his daughter seems to be pursued by a mysterious force. Three different perspectives that, when intersected, develop a destructive power. In The Blind Spot reveals a complex web of conspiracy, paranoia, and generational trauma. The film develops its own formal language to express the unspeakable, playing with familiar references from horror films and political thrillers.

The Los Angeles Kurdish Film Festival (LAKFF) is a vibrant cultural celebration showcasing the rich diversity of Kurdish stories from Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Through compelling films, this festival brings to light the complexities of Kurdish identity, history, and the ongoing struggles faced by Kurdish communities worldwide. With a diverse lineup of feature films, documentaries, and short films, LAKFF offers a platform for Kurdish filmmakers to share their voices, fostering dialogue and understanding around universal themes like displacement, resilience, and cultural preservation.

This film will be presented in its original German and Kurdish languages with English subtitles.

This program is a venue rental engagement. Member discounts and Frida Cinema comp passes not valid. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.