Zaradasht Ahmed is a Kurdish‑Norwegian filmmaker born and raised in Southern Kurdistan (Iraq), whose work centers on human resilience, cultural memory, and the lived experience of conflict and displacement. With decades of experience in documentary filmmaking across the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, Ahmed has trained local communities in visual documentation and crafted films that foreground individual stories within broader socio‑political contexts.
His acclaimed feature documentary Nowhere to Hide (2016) follows five years in the life of a medic navigating war‑torn Iraq and won the Best Feature‑Length Documentary Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), among many other international honors.
Continuing his focus on cultural heritage in the aftermath of conflict, Ahmed’s more recent film The Lions by the River Tigris (2025) premiered at CPH:DOX and explores how citizens of Mosul work to preserve their city’s history and identity amid devastation.
Ahmed’s films are recognized for their empathetic depth, intimate storytelling, and commitment to preserving voices from the margins of history and war.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
2025: The Lions By The River Tigris (92’)
2023: The Big Brother – Bong Thom (85’/58’)
2016: Nowhere to Hide (84’/58’)
2012: Fata Morgana (76’)
