PUKmedia    13.02.2010    20:09:50

Hama Ali Khan is a great actor who consistently attempts to depict how Kurdish people suffered under the former regime.

He is known to be a man of all roles. Whenever he plays a criminal, he acts as if he is a criminal in real life; he has played many heroic roles on TV series and in plays.

His strong patriotic belief led him to consider taking part in roles that would introduce people to the catastrophic lives of Kurdish people, especially in the 1970s and 1980s. "So far, Kurdish actors have not worked hard to create a bridge between Halabja and the outside world," said Khan. "There are still a lot of people in the world who have no idea what happened to Halabja town in 1988."

Halabja, a town in Sulaimaniyah province, was attacked with chemical bombs by the former Iraqi regime, killing more than 5,000 innocent people including women and children. Khan believes that artists and actors are responsible for conveying a national message to the world. "I always regarded myself as part of those people who were persecuted for being Kurds. I took part in Boni Sew ["Apple's Smell], a film about Halabja."

He plans to play a role in another film about the great 1991 Kurdish Uprising in the Kani Ashqan neighborhood in Halabja town. People in the Kani Ashqan neighborhood in 1987 stood against the Baath Party and instigated a great revolution. He is also working with Italian actors to produce another film about Halabja.

"In these three films," said Khan, "there are two themes; one of them is that Halbja as a town still harbors the attack's remains, which must be removed, and the town should be renovated in a modern way. The other theme is shedding light on how to compensate the people whose family members were killed or injured in the chemical bombardment of 1988."

Saturday, 13 February 2010

The Kurdish Globe