Mohamed Al-Daradji's Irkalla: Gilgamesh’s Dream to receive Locarno Piazza Grande world premiere

Irkala: Gilgamesh’s Dream by Mohamed Al-Daradji will premiere at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, screening in the Piazza Grande section.

August 7, 2025

VERSIONE IN ITALIANO

SYNOPSIS

Baghdad, October 2019. Chum-Chum, a homeless and dreamy nine-year-old boy, believes the Tigris hides a gateway to the underworld Irkala, where he can resurrect his parents - an idea sparked by the legend of Gilgamesh. As his friend Moody is dragged into a dark militia plot, Chum-Chum must choose between myth and salvation.

Irkalla: Gilgamesh’s Dream is a tale of grief, faith and the search for light in a city that refuses to die. In that city, a child dares to resurrect love

MOHAMED AL-DARADJI ABOUT HIS FILM

Irkalla: Gilgamesh’s Dream is more than a film. It is a return to the lost final tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh - that strange, elusive tablet in which Gilgamesh descends once more into the underworld. Not to seek immortality, but to listen to an unfinished voice, a toy left behind, an echo of laughter, the shadow of what was lost… Enkidu.

I believe this film is that missing tablet - seen through modern eyes, through the soul of a child called Chum-Chum, a boy with diabetes who doesnʼt descend to Irkala for glory, but for a father and mother who vanished before he could even ask “Why?”

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Born in Baghdad, Mohamed Al-Daradji is an award-winning filmmaker known for his powerful, socially-engaged cinema. After studying Film and Television at the Media Academy in Hilversum (Netherlands), he moved to the UK where he gained two degrees in Cinematography and Directing from the Northern Film School in Leeds.

Alongside his filmmaking career, Mohamed founded the Iraqi Independent Film Center, a pioneering initiative dedicated to nurturing the spirit of independence and creativity among emerging and established Iraqi filmmakers.