Swiss Premiere in Solothurn – PRIX DE SOLEURE 2025

I pick up Milo and Avin at Zurich Airport. It’s their first journey since leaving Iraq. Milo is dressed in black, wearing gothic boots, while Avin is wrapped in a plush brown coat. Accompanying them through their lives and making this film together has changed me—not just as a director, but as a person. Now, they are here, and I get to show them my world: my home, the mountains, Zurich, and my family. I find myself floating between happiness, anticipation, and nostalgia.

We are so excited that we can’t stop talking. Tomorrow, IMMORTALS has its Swiss premiere at the Solothurn Film Festival, where we’ve been nominated for the Prix de Soleure. The Swiss crew is reuniting for the first time since filming.

Khalili, unfortunately, couldn’t make it. He would have had to travel to Amman, Jordan, to apply for a visa—despite Switzerland recently reopening its embassy in Iraq, visa matters are still handled in Jordan. Instead, he is with us through a video message.

We spend the night in Zurich before heading to the festival. IMMORTALS screens on Friday evening, prime time. The Landhaus is packed to the last seat. The audience doesn’t yet know that Milo and Avin are here. What a surprise: When they step onto the stage at the end of the film, the energy in the room shifts—anticipation, emotion, electricity. We celebrate late into the night. In that moment, I forget everything else. We made it. Together. And I am so proud.

The second screening happens to fall on Milo’s birthday. The festival presents her with chocolates, and the audience gives her a long, heartfelt round of applause. It feels like we’ve already won. The next day, Milo and Avin take the train back to the airport. Just before the doors close, Milo shouts, as if rallying a crowd at a football match: “We will win the prize!”

And that evening, we do.

The Prix de Soleure 2025