Karzan Kardozi

{{Infobox person

| image = كارزان کاردۆزی دەرهێنەر و نوسەر.jpg

| caption =

| name = Karzan Kardozi

| birth_name = کارزان کاردۆزی

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1983|5|2|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, Iraq

| citizenship = American

| occupation = Film director, screenwriter, producer

| yearsactive = 2007–present

}}

Karzan Kardozi ({{langx|ckb|کارزان کاردۆزی}}); born 2 May 1983){{Cite book|last=Casagrande|first=Orsola|title=Kurdistan +100: Stories from a Future State|publisher=Comma Press|year=2023|isbn=9781912697366}}{{Cite book|last=Coleman|first=David|title=The Bipolar Express: Manic Depression and the Movies|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2014|isbn=9780810891944}}{{Cite book|first=Shabnam J. |last=Holliday|title=Political Identities and Popular Uprisings in the Middle East|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield International|year=2016|isbn=9781783484508}} is a Kurdish American film director,{{Cite web |title=کارزان کاردۆزی |url=https://www.kurdcinama.com/Director_details.aspx?jimare=59 |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=www.kurdcinama.com}} writer{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Karzan Kardozi |url=https://commapress.co.uk/authors/karzan-kardosi |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=Comma Press |language=en}} and producer.

Early life and education

Karzan Kardozi was born in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, and left with his family in 1999 due to war and conflict.{{Cite book |title=The Kurds before a regional transformation: rollback of independence efforts |date=2019 |publisher=Lit Verlag |isbn=978-3-643-91037-0 |editor-last=Seyder |editor-first=Ferhad Ibrahim |series=Konfrontation und Kooperation im Vorderen Orient |location=Zürich |pages=107}} They settled in the United States, in Nashville, Tennessee, where Kardozi studied film directing. In 2010, Karzan graduated from Watkins College of Art, Design & Film with a BA in Film Directing and Cinematography, and in 2014 received Master in Film Production with Distinction from University of Central Lancashire. {{Cite book|first1=Bridget |last1=Haylock|first2=Catherine |last2=Barrette|title=Traumatic Imprints: Performance, Art, Literature and Theoretical Practice|publisher=Brill|year=2020|isbn=9781848880856}}

Career

In 2015, Karzan went back to Kurdistan to make the documentary film I Want to Live,{{cite web | url=https://mubi.com/en/iq/films/i-want-to-live-2015 | title=I Want to Live | website=MUBI }} about the lives of Kurdish refugees from Syria. The film was shot on a budget of $400. In 2023, Karzan made his first feature film Where is Gilgamesh?{{Cite web |title=Karzan Kardozi |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22817100/ |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=IMDB |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The Epic of Gilgamesh Comes to the Silver Screen |url=https://kurdistanchronicle.com/babat/3595 |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Kurdistan Chronicle |language=en}}, a film noir based on the Epic of Gilgamesh.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=پۆستەری فیلمی کوردی |url=http://www.nrttv.com/nrt2/detail2/13888 |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=nrttv.com}} The film was shot on location in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq with a crew of only five, and a small budget of only $9000.{{Cite web |date=2022-12-07 |title=Wedonet Is Revolutionizing Work For Kurdistan's Freelancers |url=https://ideasbeyondborders.org/wedonet-is-revolutionizing-work-for-kurdistans-freelancers/|access-date=2023-11-27 |website=Ideas Beyond Borders |language=en-US}}

Filmography

A Walking Shadow (2007)
A Day in the Country (2008)
Greed Eats the Soul (2009)
The Arcturian (2013)
A Viewer on a Movie Projector (2014)
Yilmaz Guney: Rebel with a Cause (2014)
I Want To Live (2015)
Where Is Gilgamesh? (2024)

Publications

Kardozi, Karzan (2018). Yılmaz Güney (900 pages, Xazalnus)
Kardozi, Karzan (2019). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 1: Lumière, Georges Méliès, Louis Feuillade (1076 pages, Xazalnus)
Kardozi, Karzan (2019). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 2: D.W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin (1100 pages, Xazalnus)
Kardozi, Karzan (2020). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 3: Buster Keaton, Robert Flaherty, Carl Dreyer (1250 pages, Xazalnus)
Kardozi, Karzan (2020). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 4: Eric von Stroheim, Fritz Lang (1400 pages, Xazalnus){{Cite web |date=2021-02-13 |title=کارزان کاردۆزی دوو بەرگی دیکەی (سەد ساڵ سینەما، سەد دەرهێنەر) بڵاو دەکاتەوە |url=https://politicpress.com/34276/|access-date=2024-03-02 |website=Politic Press |language=en-US}}
Kardozi, Karzan (2024). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 5: Abel Gance, Jean Epstein (900 pages, Xazalnus)
Kardozi, Karzan (2024). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 6: F.W. Murnau, G.W. Pabst (998 pages, Xazalnus)
Kardozi, Karzan (2024). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 7: Ernst Lubitsch, Josef von Sternberg (1130 pages, Xazalnus)
Kardozi, Karzan (2024). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 8: Kenji Mizoguchi (988 pages, Xazalnus)
Kardozi, Karzan (2024). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 9: Akira Kurosawa (1178 pages, Xazalnus)
Kardozi, Karzan (2024). 100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 10: Yasujiro Ozu (1148 pages, Xazalnus) {{Citation | year=2024 | title="100 Years of Cinema, 100 Director" | website=The Moving Silent | url=https://themovingsilent.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/book-100-years-of-cinema-from-d-w-griffith-to-richard-linklater/ | access-date=2024-11-18}}
Kurdistan +100: Stories from a Future State (Comma Press, 2023){{Citation | vauthors=((Broomfield, M.)) | date=28 November 2023 | title=First Kurdish Sci-Fi Collection is Rooted in the Past | website=The Markaz Report | url=https://themarkaz.org/first-kurdish-sci-fi-collection-is-rooted-in-the-past/ | access-date=2023-05-01}}{{Citation | year=2023 | title="Kurdistan + 100", edited by Orsola Casagrande and Mustafa Gündoğdu | website=Asian Review of Books | url=https://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/new-book-announcement-kurdistan-100-edited-by-orsola-casagrande-and-mustafa-gundogdu/ | access-date=2023-05-01}}