Baghdad-set drama nominated for Best UK Feature at Raindance 2022

Veteran documentary filmmaker Maysoon Pachachi’s debut fiction feature OUR RIVER…OUR SKY
(Arabic title KULSHI MAKOO) will have its UK premiere at the 30th edition of Raindance Film Festival
(26 October – 5 November, 2022).

Programmed in the festival’s “Homegrown” strand, the October 29 premiere at Curzon Cinema Soho
will be presented by the film’s London-based director, who will be joined by several of the film’s UK-
based cast and crew.

Says Pachachi: “When I set up my film production company in London in 1993, it was in direct response
to the Gulf War. Since then, I have aimed to share authentic stories of Iraqis and other people from
the Middle East with British audiences – initially through a documentary film I made for Channel 4 and
now, many years later, with this ensemble narrative inspired by the lives of real people coping during
the time of intense sectarian violence that began unfolding in 2006.”

The film is one of five films nominated in the overall selection of 45 films for BEST UK FEATURE.

WEBSITE Raindance Film Festival: https://raindance.org/festival/
WEBSITE Film: https://riverskyfilm.com/
WEBSITE Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm382hzC3dg
TWITTER: @AnotherDayinB
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/OurRiverOurSky
HASHTAG: #ourriveroursky
TICKETS: https://www.curzon.com/tic

Screenings

Our River Our Sky has been screened at the following festivals so far!

World Premiere : SARAJEVO Film Festival (August 2021)

North America Premiere : SAN FRANCISCO Arab FilmFestival (October 2021)

Mena Premiere : CAIRO International Film Festival (November 2021)

Iraqi Premiere : SLEMANI International Film Festival (December 2021)

Asian Premiere : TRIVANDRUM International Film Festival of Kerala (March 2022)

French Premieres : LYON Institut Lumière – Regard Sud festival (April 2022) & PARIS Institut du Monde Arabe (May 2022)

German Premiere : BERLIN Alfilm Arab Film Festival (April 2022)

Swedish Premiere : MALMO Arab Film Festival (May 2022)

Dutch Premiere : ROTTERDAM Arab Film Festival (June 2022)

Jordan Premiere : AMMAN International Film Festival (July 2022)

Premiere at Sarajevo Film Festival!

We had a good screening in Sarajevo, with an impassioned introduction of the film by the director of the festival, Mirsad Purivatra, and a lively post-screening discussion, led by a very perceptive and empathetic moderator.

An interview by Nina Rothe at MIME with director, Maysoon Pachachi and producer Talal Al-Muhanna, on the eve of the film’s premiere in Sarajevo. Read it on MIME.

An interview by Marta Balaga for VARIETY about OUR RIVER…OUR SKY with director, Maysoon Pachachi & producer, Talal Al- Muhanna. Read it on Variety.

OUR RIVER… OUR SKY World Premiere

Sarajevo Film Festival. August 19, 2021, at 6pm.

The film will screen as part of ‘Dealing with the Past’, a specially curated program in which stories of past and present conflicts are brought to light with a view to communal healing.

Ever since screenwriters Irada Al-Jubori and Maysoon Pachachi began collaborating on the script, ‘creativity as an act of resistance’ was a part of the DNA of their project in so many ways: SFF was launched to support and inspire the people of Sarajevo during the 1992-95 war.

We can’t think of a better context in which to introduce this film to the world, for the first time, than as part of this special program in Sarajevo.