Director: Dawood Hilmandi
Country: Netherlands, Afghanistan
Language: Dutch |Persian
Year: 2025
Run Time: 97 mins
Refugee Afghan Filmmaker Confronts His Mujahideen Father to Understand What Freedom Really Is
Dutch-Afghan filmmaker Dawood Hilmandi confronts his authoritarian father’s violent past in a
journey through Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq. Blending family, faith, and migration, the film explores healing, freedom and the power of creativity in the face of alienation.
Director:
Dawood Hilmandi is an Afghan-born filmmaker and artist whose work probes the boundaries of cinematic form. Freedom and creativity are the twin engines of his practice, fueling a deep inquiry into the structures that shape identity and belonging. His acclaimed video essay ‘Me Montage’ opened the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, a testament to its innovative style. This recognition was reinforced when he won the top prize for a feature film project pitch at the Locarno Film Festival in 2017. Hilmandi recently completed his first feature-length documentary, Paikar, which premiered at IDFA in 2025.
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