Jano Rosebiani
Encyclopedia
Jano Rosebiani is a Kurdish/American film director and self-taught auteur of film with international, intercontinental and cross-cultural themes, in which diverse mores, values and traditions may be converged to make for a festive experience for the senses.
Born in 1960 in the small town of Zumar, Kurdistan on the banks of the River Tigris in the southern region of Kurdistan. Due to the constant harassment and occasional imprisonment of his father by the Iraqi authorities in their tactical ethnic cleansing campaign, the family eventually resettled in the more autonomous town of Zakho
bordering the Turkish occupied region of Kurdistan in 1964. In 1974, then a seventh‐grader, Rosebiani along with his family joined the Kurdish uprising against the Iraqi repression and took to the mountains. Two years later he became a refugee in the United States.
Rosebiani acquired his knowledge of film making during his college years at NOVA (Northern Virginia Community College) in the mid eighties while managing movie theaters and making experimental videos for a public access television that received local and national awards, among them the Hometown, USA prize in 1987.
Rosebiani moved to Los Angeles in 1988 where he worked as a freelance editor and graphic designer. In 1995 he made his feature film debut with "Dance of the Pendulum"http://www.evinifilms.com/dance.html ‐ a low budget intellectual comedy parodying violence and exploitation in Hollywood movies, shot entirely in a house in the Studio City Hills in 18 days. The film, which was shot on Super-16mm, was distributed in the digital format in over a dozen countries, however the negative print was never cut. A new version with some animation is planned for release in the second half of this year.
“Jiyan” (life)http://www.evinifilms.com/jiyan.html is Rosebiani's second film made in 2002 as a homage to his Kurdish roots and to the people of Halabja (the town that was subjected to chemical and biological bombardment by the Iraqi regime in 1988). The film, intended to be a window to the world for the Kurds, received high critical acclaim, including four‐star ratings by The Guardian and BBC World, and became a festival favorite, garnering numerous awards.
"Jiyan" was the first Kurdish film to be made in the autonomous Kurdish region with a local cast and crew. Rosebiani had to smuggle filming equipment into the region through Turkey, and later smuggled the footage out to Belgium where he did the post production.
Following the production of "Jiyan", Rosebiani moved to and settled in Erbil, the Kurdish regional capital, to help develop the Kurdish cinema, giving numerous workshops and producing two national film festivals as well as the much needed documentaries, Saddam's Mass Graves and Chemical Ali which were distributed worldwide.
However, to his bewilderment, Rosebiani's seven-year stint in Kurdistan was met with dismal results. Disillusioned by the lack of genuine commitment to the advancement of the cinema on the part of the Kurdish Administration's cultural institutions, and due to the omnipresent corruption that has plagued the region, Rosebiani returned to the United States in 2007.
Rosebiani's latest film is "Chaplin of the Mountains"http://www.evinifilms.com/chaplin.html, shot in the summer of 2009 with an ensemble cast of American, European and Kurdish actors. "Chaplin of the Mountains" is the first English language film to be shot in the Kurdish countryside. It is now in post production in Temecula, California where Rosebiani lives with his wife, Héja and two children, Avesta (6) and Janovan (4)..
http://www.kurdishcinema.com/JanoRosebinaiBiography.html
http://www.medialuna-entertainment.de/ICONS/FILMLISTS/057/002.html
Born in 1960 in the small town of Zumar, Kurdistan on the banks of the River Tigris in the southern region of Kurdistan. Due to the constant harassment and occasional imprisonment of his father by the Iraqi authorities in their tactical ethnic cleansing campaign, the family eventually resettled in the more autonomous town of Zakho
Zakho
Zakho is a district and a town in Northern Iraq located a few kilometers from the Iraqi-Turkish border.Zakho is a province of the Dohuk Governorate. The city has 200,000 inhabitants. It may have originally begun on a small island in the Little Khabur which currently flows through the city...
bordering the Turkish occupied region of Kurdistan in 1964. In 1974, then a seventh‐grader, Rosebiani along with his family joined the Kurdish uprising against the Iraqi repression and took to the mountains. Two years later he became a refugee in the United States.
Rosebiani acquired his knowledge of film making during his college years at NOVA (Northern Virginia Community College) in the mid eighties while managing movie theaters and making experimental videos for a public access television that received local and national awards, among them the Hometown, USA prize in 1987.
Rosebiani moved to Los Angeles in 1988 where he worked as a freelance editor and graphic designer. In 1995 he made his feature film debut with "Dance of the Pendulum"http://www.evinifilms.com/dance.html ‐ a low budget intellectual comedy parodying violence and exploitation in Hollywood movies, shot entirely in a house in the Studio City Hills in 18 days. The film, which was shot on Super-16mm, was distributed in the digital format in over a dozen countries, however the negative print was never cut. A new version with some animation is planned for release in the second half of this year.
“Jiyan” (life)http://www.evinifilms.com/jiyan.html is Rosebiani's second film made in 2002 as a homage to his Kurdish roots and to the people of Halabja (the town that was subjected to chemical and biological bombardment by the Iraqi regime in 1988). The film, intended to be a window to the world for the Kurds, received high critical acclaim, including four‐star ratings by The Guardian and BBC World, and became a festival favorite, garnering numerous awards.
"Jiyan" was the first Kurdish film to be made in the autonomous Kurdish region with a local cast and crew. Rosebiani had to smuggle filming equipment into the region through Turkey, and later smuggled the footage out to Belgium where he did the post production.
Following the production of "Jiyan", Rosebiani moved to and settled in Erbil, the Kurdish regional capital, to help develop the Kurdish cinema, giving numerous workshops and producing two national film festivals as well as the much needed documentaries, Saddam's Mass Graves and Chemical Ali which were distributed worldwide.
However, to his bewilderment, Rosebiani's seven-year stint in Kurdistan was met with dismal results. Disillusioned by the lack of genuine commitment to the advancement of the cinema on the part of the Kurdish Administration's cultural institutions, and due to the omnipresent corruption that has plagued the region, Rosebiani returned to the United States in 2007.
Rosebiani's latest film is "Chaplin of the Mountains"http://www.evinifilms.com/chaplin.html, shot in the summer of 2009 with an ensemble cast of American, European and Kurdish actors. "Chaplin of the Mountains" is the first English language film to be shot in the Kurdish countryside. It is now in post production in Temecula, California where Rosebiani lives with his wife, Héja and two children, Avesta (6) and Janovan (4)..
Feature films
- Dance of the Pendulum 1995
- JiyanJiyanJiyan is a 2002 film written and directed by the Kurdish director Jano Rosebiani.-Plot:Diyari, a Kurdish/American returns to his hometown of Halabja, to build an orphanage five years after the chemical bombing. There, he meets Jiyan and Sherko, orphan survivors of the attack...
(Life) 2001 - Chaplin of the Mountains 2009
- One Candle, Two Candles... 2010/2011
Awards
- 2002 Seattle International Film Festival, New Director's Showcase Special Jury Prize, for JiyanJiyanJiyan is a 2002 film written and directed by the Kurdish director Jano Rosebiani.-Plot:Diyari, a Kurdish/American returns to his hometown of Halabja, to build an orphanage five years after the chemical bombing. There, he meets Jiyan and Sherko, orphan survivors of the attack...
- 2002 Tróia International Film Festival, Costa Azul Award, for JiyanJiyanJiyan is a 2002 film written and directed by the Kurdish director Jano Rosebiani.-Plot:Diyari, a Kurdish/American returns to his hometown of Halabja, to build an orphanage five years after the chemical bombing. There, he meets Jiyan and Sherko, orphan survivors of the attack...
- 2003 Jerusalem Int'l Film Festival, Honerary Mention JiyanJiyanJiyan is a 2002 film written and directed by the Kurdish director Jano Rosebiani.-Plot:Diyari, a Kurdish/American returns to his hometown of Halabja, to build an orphanage five years after the chemical bombing. There, he meets Jiyan and Sherko, orphan survivors of the attack...
- 2003 Rights To Have Rights Film Festival, Modena, Italy, Award JiyanJiyanJiyan is a 2002 film written and directed by the Kurdish director Jano Rosebiani.-Plot:Diyari, a Kurdish/American returns to his hometown of Halabja, to build an orphanage five years after the chemical bombing. There, he meets Jiyan and Sherko, orphan survivors of the attack...
Reference
http://www.evinifilms.comhttp://www.kurdishcinema.com/JanoRosebinaiBiography.html
http://www.medialuna-entertainment.de/ICONS/FILMLISTS/057/002.html