I Want to Live

If you watch the news on daily basis, I'm sure you will see some news about the Kurdish people and their fight against ISIS, there are also many documentaries on the subject, and I have seen many of them, but I have noticed many of these documentaries only give the big picture, they talk about the politic, give number, geographical location, etc. What i loved about this documentary and found it so interesting is how the director take the viewer inside the refugees camp, give a glimpse of what is like to be a refugee, to be a Kurdish refugee, and more than a politic, the film is about the daily life of refugees, their need which are simple, but they are incapable of having, the boy is sick and want to be cured, but the problem is he cannot find treatment where he is, his need is to have a good health, a house, a roof over his head, protected from the heat and from the cold, simple needs. While watching the films I was reminded of the great Italian Neo-realism cinema of 40s and 50s, it is realistic and poetic at the same time.

I came upon watching this film by chance after I started my MA thesis on the Kurdish Struggle for Independent, out of the dozen documentaries that I have watched so far on the Kurdish issue and Kurdistan, this one is by far the best, especially when it comes to tacking the issue of Kurdish refugees and the Kurdish struggle in Rojava and their fight against ISIS, what I liked about the film is how simple it is; the filmmaker show everything from the perspective of the little boy, what he see and hear, we see and hear, we hear his wishes for a peaceful future, end of war, the right to study, read and write in Kurdish in school, for the Kurds to rule themselves, and unification of all four part of Kurdistan, these are in term of his political wish, but the film is not a political film, it is a about the live of a boy who is sick and wish to have a good health and get a treatment for his sickness, only this boy happen to be a Kurd, who live in a Refugee camps and cannot find this treatment. That is the richness of this film, it work on many levels and rich in term or narrative, but simple and beautiful like all works of Arts should be.

I had a chance to watch this film two years ago when it was show here in New York by the New Filmmaker. It seem like a simple film, but it not, it is very rich, what make is great is the simplicity of it, every image is carefully composed and planned in advance. What you see is the truth, simple story of a boy who only want to live. Never forgot this film and this boy, Shndar, and I'm very happy to hear he is safe now in Ireland, thanks to this film and the effort of the filmmakers, he is can get required medical treatment. I look forward seeing more film from Mr. Kardozi, an emerging talent.

I watched this documentary at the sideline of the Cannes Film Festival in the Student Section, it tell the story of a little boy by the name of Shendar who is sick and must have a surgery, every day that passes and he does not have this surgery, his health deteriorate for the worse. All the scenes are shot on and around a Refugees camps and we are always with Shendar, he talk about his dream, his wishes for peace, tolerance and also to have a country like others, for Shendar is a Kurd and like 40 million others Kurds he does not have a country, but the film is not about politic, nor the struggle of the Kurdish people and their fight for freedom agaisnt ISIS, it is a simple truthful story about a little boy who just want to live, his only wish as he keep saying "To have a Good health and Live". Very good documentary, truthful.

To my mind, it is a fully realized cinematic work of art, a film that has been carefully composed in every single scene in order to provide a unique and meditative, but powerful watching experience. Without doubt, any viewer with an open heart and mind will be fully immersed into the world and lives of the young children portrayed in this movie.