Hiner Saleem

Hiner Saleem (born 9 March 1964 in Aqrah, Iraqi Kurdistan) is an Iraqi‑Kurdish film director and screenwriter renowned for bringing the struggles and humor of Kurdish life to international audiences. He left Iraq at the age of seventeen, embarking on a journey that first took him to Italy where he completed his secondary education and earned a university degree, and later to France, where he has lived and worked ever since. After the First Gulf War in 1992 he returned covertly to document the living conditions of Iraqi Kurds; the raw footage was later screened at the Venice Film Festival and marked his entry into the world of documentary cinema. His first feature, Vive la mariée… et la libération du Kurdistan (1997), showcased his talent for blending political commentary with personal narrative, and was followed by Passeurs de rêves (2000), an English‑titled Beyond Our Dreams that further explored diaspora themes. The breakthrough arrived with Vodka Lemon (2003), a bittersweet comedy‑drama set in a war‑torn Armenian town that earned the San Marco Prize at Venice and cemented Saleem’s reputation as a master of cross‑cultural storytelling. In 2005 the French Ministry of Culture honoured him with the title Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, recognizing his contributions to world cinema. His later work, My Sweet Pepper Land (2013), was selected for the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and garnered a nomination for the Asia‑Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing, underscoring his continued relevance. Beyond film, Saleem has published memoirs titled My Father’s Rifle, translated into several languages, offering a poignant glimpse into his childhood in Kurdistan. Throughout his career, he has consistently used cinema to give voice to marginalized peoples, blending humor, tragedy, and stark realism in a style that is both unmistakably Kurdish and universally resonant.