Archive of films If You Die, I’ll Kill You / Si tu meurs, je te tue

France
2010, 95 min

Section: Focus on Kurdish Film
Year: 2013

Frenchman Philippe and Kurd Avdal meet up in a French bar and become friends. But fate strikes quickly and unexpectedly, and Avdal’s beautiful fiancée Siba will soon be arriving at the airport. Will everyone manage to come to terms in some respectable way with their sorrow, their cultural differences, and with the demands of traditional morality? A black comedy with magical motifs about exile, death, love, and forgiveness.

Synopsis

In a Parisian bar, a hard-boiled egg brings together a Frenchman named Philippe, who has just been released from prison, and a Kurd named Avdal, who claims to be in Europe on the trail of an Iraqi war criminal. But fate has other plans for their friendship. A pizza seller tells Philippe: "Kurds don’t die of natural causes – it’s chemical weapons, cancer, or exile.” Six Kurdish brothers arrive on the scene, as do Avdal’s beautiful fiancée Siba and his devout father Cheto. This black comedy about love, death, sorrow, and forgiveness presents established themes such as life in the diaspora, the clash of civilizations, the coexistence of cultures, patriarchal morality, nationalism, faith, women’s emancipation, honor killings, and the conflict between tradition and modernity, and between rural and city life. But it looks upon them lightly, with nostalgic detachment, a touch of mystery, and a sense of the paradoxical absurdities of existence. The director cast the legendary Mylène Demongeot (The Three Musketeers, Fantômas) in the role of the piano-playing landlady.

About the director

Hiner Saleem (b. 1964, Aqrah, Iraqi Kurdistan) left Iraq at age 17, traveling through Syria to Italy. He now lives in France, working as a writer, painter, and filmmaker who debuted with the comedy Long Live the Bride … and the Liberation of Kurdistan (Vive la mariée... et la libération du Kurdistan, 1997). In 2001 he shot Absolitude for TV Arte. His tragicomedies Beyond Our Dreams (Passeurs de rêves, 2000) and Vodka Lemon (2003) were created as French-Italian-Armenian coproductions. Then followed the drama Kilomètre zero (2005) and the music film Dol (2007). He then made the melodrama Beneath the Rooftops of Paris (Les toits de Paris, 2006) starring Michel Piccoli and Mylène Demongeot. His autobiographical book My Father’s Rifle: A Childhood in Kurdistan (Le fusil de mon père) came out in 2004.

Contacts

Roissy Films
58, rue Pierre Charron, 75008, Paris
France
Tel: +33 153 535 050
Fax: +33 142 892 693
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.roissyfilms.com

+ 1

About the film

Color, DCP

Section:	Focus on Kurdish Film

Director:	Hiner Saleem
Screenplay:	Hiner Saleem
Dir. of Photography:	Manuel Teran
Editor:	Emmanuelle Mimran
Producer:	Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre
Production:	Mact Productions
Cast:	Jonathan Zaccaï, Golshifteh Farahani, Billey Demirtaş, Menderes Samancilar, Özz Nüjen, Mylène Demongeot, Jane Birkin
Contact:	Roissy Films