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 Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Synopsis: In Half Moon, Mamo, a renowned Kurdish musician, has begun a journey to Iraq with his sons to perform a concert after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Mamo persists despite knowing the obstacles because it is a momentous occasion. Mamo intends to take Hesho, a female singer who lives in exile, but the strength of Hesho's voice has dwindled along with her self confidence. And while they cross the borders, Mamo’s team faces many hardships and struggles as their journey is wrought with adventure and disaster every step of the way.
**Special Performance by Chioma Oruh**
Chioma "Journey Woman" Oruh (writer/performer) is an artivist (artist + activist) scholar dedicated to the unification of all African people. As a writer, she keeps a poetry blog journeywomanchi.com as well as has published research papers on various topics pertaining on Pan African issues. She is also the editor-in-chief of Igbo Kwenu! (www.igbokwe.org) - a cultural education group inspired by the Igbo Landing legend that is dedicated to a holistic education of Africans in the diaspora about Igbo culture through the promotion of the arts and literature. As an activist, she is a dedicated Pan African and is an organizer of the Resist Africom campaign (www.resisafricom.org) as well as a member of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. She is also a member of the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based social justice theatre company called Wise Fool and is a performance poet both individually and through collaborations. Chioma is also a graduate student in the African Studies department at Howard University and is studying music and its effects on liberation movements.
About the Filmmaker:
Bahman Ghobadi was born on February 1st, 1969 in Baneh, a city near the Iran-Iraq border in the province of Kurdistan, Iran. He came to Tehran in 1992 in order to further his studies in the field of Industrial Photography. Although he earned a B.A. in Film Directing from the Iranian Broadcasting College, he never properly graduated because he believed that he learned more by creating short films than during formal studies. His direct experience with film helped him to expand his individualistic voice and vision of the world he inhabited.
Beginning in the mid 1990s Ghobadi's short films received many foreign and domestic awards. One of his films, "Life in Fog" became known as "the most famous documentary ever made in the history of Iranian cinema." In the wake of being awarded several different International Awards, this film opened up new opportunities in Ghobadi's career.
With the making of his full-length feature "A Time for Drunken Horses" in 1999, Ghobadi became fully recognized as a professional director. Not only was this the first Kurdish full-feature film in the history of Iranian cinema, but Ghobadi also came to be recognized as the pioneer Kurdish director from Iran.
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