Iraq has selected Norwegian-Kurdish director Halkawt Mustafa’s drama No Paradise If You Are Killed By A Woman as its Best International Feature Film entry to the 99th Academy Awards.
News of the choice came ahead of the film’s world premiere Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival early next week.
Avan Jamal stars as female Peshmerga sniper Vyan who heads to Mosul to rescue her younger sister from ISIS, forcing her to confront the violence she survived and the shadows of the person she has become. The cast also features Thorbjørn Harr, Kanar Sarchl and Kader Jalal.
The film is rooted in Mustafa’s encounter with a female Peshmerga sniper during in 2014 as women moved into frontline positions to counter Islamic State attacks.
“The film is also deeply personal. I was born in Iraqi Kurdistan and fled to Norway as a child. Through Vyan’s story, I want to honour the women who refused to bow to darkness and fought not only for themselves, but for the freedom of others,” said Mustafa.
His previous credits include documentary Hiding Saddam Hussein, taking its cue from the farmer who hid the Iraqi dictator for 235 days in 2003, and Iraq’s 2016 Oscar submission The Classic.
The director also previously explored the world of female Kurdish fighters with the 2015 documentary The Women ISIS Fears.
Iraq’s National Selection Committee for the Academy Awards said the choice of the film as the official submission had been reached by unanimous consensus, “following a rigorous artistic evaluation of the eligible submissions”.
The committee commended the film’s mature directorial vision and the cohesive integration of its visual and technical craftsmanship, delivering cinematic work that articulates the depth of local narratives with the artistic distinction needed to compete on the global stage.
Iraq enjoyed a buzzy 2025-26 awards season thanks to Hasan Hadi’s Cannes Caméra d’Or-winning first The President’s Cake, which became the country’s first feature to make it to the December short list.
No Paradise If You Are Killed By A Woman is produced by Hene Films. in co-production with La Media (Iraqi Kurdistan) and The Chimney Pot (Sweden). True Colours handles international sales.
