Herman

1988, Kurdistan. Before the Iraqi government’s Operation Anfal to massacre and suppress the Kurds separatist movement began, two lovers Herman and Adar ‘who missed each other even while together’ were forced to be separated due to unavoidable circumstances. Later, when Herman goes back, the village is already burnt to the ground by Iraqi soldiers and Adar is long gone. Now, Herman’s long, desperate battle to find his love begins. Meanwhile, Adar, who ran away from the Iraqi soldiers to a refugee camp, later finds out that she is pregnant with Herman’s baby. Adar’s father tries to kill her for getting pregnant out of wedlock and keep the family’s honor. The pain of parting with a loved one, the political situation that threatens an ethnic group’s fight for independence, and the repressive Muslim principles that believe a woman’s chastity is the family’s honor, all squeeze upon Adar’s life. After co-directing a short film and winning the Amnesty Award for it at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, [Herman] is the Kurdistan native, Hussein Hassan’s, feature debut. Memories of the Kurd’s sufferings and harsh ordeals are revived through the two lover’s love and painful lives.