Kurdish-Norwegian director Halkawt Mustafa’s Hollywood-style thriller “There’s No Heaven If You’re Killed by a Woman,” about a female Kurdish sniper who returns to Mosul to save her younger sister, was selected by Iraq as the country’s official entry in the international feature category at the 99th Academy Awards.
“There’s No Heaven If You’re Killed by a Woman” is about a female sniper named Vyan who returns to the battlefield she once escaped with a sense of revenge and the hope of saving her younger sister, who is still imprisoned by ISIS. The thriller premiered out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and also opened in Toronto.
Avan Jamal (“Exam”) stars as Vyan, alongside Norwegian actor Thorbjørn Harr. The main cast of the film also includes Kanar Sarchl and Kader Jalal.
According to the statement made by the Norwegian Film Institute, which supported the production of the film, Mustafa, who was born in Iraqi Kurdistan and fled to Norway in his childhood, wrote his film inspired by his encounter with a female Peshmerga sniper on the front line in 2014.
The statement stated that the film was shot in Mosul, Iraq, and that “the real streets and surroundings of the city could only be achieved there to create the physical and emotional authenticity that Mustafa felt.”
Mustafa had previously directed the feature film “El Clásico” and the documentary “Hiding Saddam Hussein”, which were successfully screened in movie theaters in the Arab world.
“No Paradise” is produced by Halkawt Mustafa, Janne Hjeltnes and John M. Jacobsen, in a co-production for Hene Films in Norway, with La Media in Iraqi Kurdistan and The Chimney Pot in Sweden.
Italy’s True Colors handles international sales.