The 13th London Kurdish Film Festival (LKFF) opened with a gala on Friday and the screening of Neighbours by Mano Khalil. Artist Eleonore Forniau performed at the gala.

The festival will be screening at the Rio & Vue Cinema. This is a highly important edition as LKFF returns to the big screens after two successful online global editions.

Mano Khalil is a Kurdish-Swiss film director living in Switzerland.He studied history and law at Damascus University and moved to Czechoslovakia in 1987 to study fiction and film direction. Between 1990 and 1995, he worked as an independent film director for Czechoslovak and later for Slovak Television. Since 1996, he has lived in Switzerland, working as an independent film director and producer.

The 13th edition of LKFF will present a pre-selected programme of films that have been released between 2021-2022. The festival will be showcasing the latest and best new Kurdish film releases that were not given the opportunity to shine during the pandemic.

The festival will be held from the 23rd-30th of September 2022.