MOVIE REVIEW: ‘The Dark Wind’ Is A Love Story Trapped In The Horrors Of War & Cultural Traditions

Kurdish filmmaker, Hussein Hassan offers a war movie, "The Dark Wind" a film that features a love story that got caught in the conflict of caused by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). This 2016 movie from Iraq was first shown during the fourth Duhok International Film Festival and then later during the 21st Busan International Film Festival. The setting is during the Yazidi genocide and the movie screening became controversial when angry viewers chose to walk out even before the film ended.

"The Dark Wind" cast includes Rekesh Shabaz (Reko), Diman Zandi (Pero), Maryam Boobani (Xezal) and Adil Abdulrahman (Reso). As posted in Variety, the plot of this movie starts with the happy engagement of Reko and Pero. This happiness along with the peace in their town will not stay long since the ISIS will capture their village.

Unfortunately, Pero will be captured along with a number of women who will later be sold into slavery. Her fiancé will tirelessly search for her until finally finding her among a group of rescued women. Reko will bring the traumatized Pero home which is now just a mere refugee camp.

Film Review: ‘The Dark Wind’ https://t.co/73qq0ItlSd via Variety

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As it turns out, Pero's ordeal is far from over since after what she has gone through, the villagers now judged her as unfit for Reko. This film is apparently the first fiction piece that details the horrors of the Yazidi genocide yet "The Dark Wind" does not represent the entire Iraqi society. Nevertheless, even if the main focus of the story is the relationship of Reko and Pero, "The Dark Wind" is a great start for the public to have a glimpse of the Yazidi culture.

A review from The Hollywood Reporter claims that the movie needs to improve its storytelling style. Still the character portrayed by Zandi successfully conveyed the horrors of war to the viewers.