Chasing a dream from Los Angeles to Kurdistan

LOS ANGELES, United States (Kurdistan24) - When his girlfriend leaves him without offering clear reasons, Los Angeles-based Mikael Kawa travels to Kurdistan to rebuild his life around achieving his late father's dream and dusting up his old football skills.

Mikael's parents fled war and destruction in the Kurdish land three decades ago and settled at the West Coast but now that they seem to be gone, he searches for his roots by going back to a homeland he does not completely understand and cannot easily communicate with.

Mikael's father dreamed that his son would one day play for Kurdistan football team, a challenging desire to fulfill for a man who is over thirty, out of shape, and haunted by the memories of his lost lover.

This slow-paced independent movie offers visually appealing cinematography of beautiful Duhok, Kurdistan Region, the green mountains and lucid rivers.

As apolitical as a movie set in the Middle East can get, Mikael offers Western audience a break from recurrent images of bombing, lost lives, destroyed homes and hopes.

Instead it portrays a vibrant Kurdistan with a generation whose eyes is set on a brighter future than that of the previous generation.

Directed by and starring Kordo Doski, Mikael was made in 2016 by Said Who? Productions and had its North American premiere in LA Dances with Films Festival in June.

Born in Kurdistan Region and raised in Canada, Doski now resides in Los Angeles, California. He holds a BA in Communication Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario.