Der Imker (The Beekeeper)

Director: Mano Khalil
Switzerland | Kurdish, German <
2013 | 107min | Colour
Subtitles: English

Friday, Oct 31
TIPA, 5:30 PM

The moving story of a beekeeper’s fate. He lost everything in the turmoil of the Turkish-Kurdish war: his wife and children, his homeland and, with the loss of over 500 colonies of bees, also his livelihood. The only thing remaining is his love of bees and his unwavering trust in individual human beings, regardless of origin. Following a long odyssey fraught with deprivation, the beekeeper finds his way back to his passion in Switzerland.

Presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland in India.

Mano Khalil

Born in 1964 in Kamishly, Kurdistan-Syria, Mano Khalil now holds Swiss Citizenship. Between 1981-86, he completed his studies in Jurisprudence and History at the University of Damaskus. Khalil studied film-making at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava from 1987 to 1994 . Until 1995, he worked as a  freelancer for  Czechoslovakian and Slovakian Television. Since 1996 he has been living in Switzerland where he works as a director/producer. In 2012, he founded the production company Frame Film in Bern.

Credits

Director: Mano Khalil
Producer: Mano Khalil
Sreenwriter: Mano Khalil
Cinematographer: Mano Khalil, Steff Bossert
Editor: Thomas Bachmann
Music: Mario Batkovic
Production Company: Frame Film
Cast: Ibrahim Gezer

Festival Appearances & Awards

Solothurner Filmtage – Prix de Soleure 2013
Bozner Filmtage, 2014 – Best Documentary Film
Duhok International Film Festival 2013 – Best Kurdish Documentary
XIX Film Festival della Lessinia 2013 – Lessinia d’Argento
Der Neue Heimatfilm Freistadt 2013 – Audience Award