INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

This morning we kicked off the second week of the starters training in Kirkuk. The training is organized together with Women's Rights organization Rozh, who also have a magazine and website. The participants in this three week training all work with Rozh. IMCK trainer Sardasht Aziz will be with the participants this week, his main topics are how to use Social Media, how to find sources, how to spread information, create a network, Facebook, Twitter and internet security. More photos of the training are to be found on Facebook .

We are proud to say that we were reading articles, written by women from the starters course in Kalar, in Awene and Kurdistan Nwe. A beautiful result of a special training. To read the articles in Kurdistan Nwe: First article Second article

Outside it is raining, but inside we are full strenght on the internet. Trainer Zardasht Aziz started a three day Social Media workshop today in the IMCK office in Sulaymaniyah. The participants are all from the media department of the PUK (Patriotic Union Kurdistan). Topics in the training will be the use of social media, safety, building networks and more. Pictures of today's training can be found on Facebook .

On Sunday we opened a three week starters training in Kirkuk. The training is organized together with Rozh, a human rights organization. Fifteen participants will be trained in basic journalism, internet, social media, writing, photojournalism, ethics and more. The trainers, amongst others, are Khaled Sulaiman, Shwan Muhamad and Sardasht Aziz. We wish the trainees the best of luck and look forward to reading their stories. More photos of the training are to be found on Facebook

With great pride we saw 21 women graduate after a four week journalism course in Kalar. It was a festive ceremony, with representatives from the major office, Western Zagros and local media. IMCK trainers Khaled Sulaiman, Shwan Muhamad and Sardasht Aziz trained the women in basic journalism, general knowledge, internet and computer capability and more. We wish the graduated women a successful career and hope to see them again in future courses!

Firman Abdul-Rahman has won the award for best documentary at the festival: 'Illusion of Paradise' that IMCK organizes together with STATT and the Ministry of Culture. He is one of the three documentary makers who, after a training with IMCK and STATT, was selected to make his documentary. The other two were Nawa Latif and Luqman Sherwany. All three documentaries were shown during the festival yesterday. This afternoon at four, the second festival day starts. Now with a selection of international documentaries. We will screen: - Smugglers Paradise: A documentary on how people smugglers keep expanding their business network in Indonesia and Australia. - Salma: A two minute documentary by filmmaker San Saravan based on a true story that shows the journey of a female asylum seeker. - In This World: A documentary drama which follows two young Afghan asylum seekers looking for a better future in the United Kingdom. - Ongoing Tragedy: A Kurdish returnee talks about how h

Together with the Ministry of Culture and STATT we present a selection of national and international films documenting the drama and false hopes of illegal migration journeys. The best national documentary will be rewarded. One the side of the documentary festival there will be an exhibition with work from local artists and photographers.  Everyone is welcome to this free event! Illusion of Paradise - Documentary Festival Dates: 13 & 14 February Time: 16 - 19.30 Location: Roshinbirri Hall, Sulaymaniyah

This morning we kicked off the fourth and final week of our women starters training in Kalar. The theme for this week is advanced journalism and general knowledge. Under the lead of IMCK trainer Khaled Sulaiman there will be specialists to inform the women on various subjects. After 3 weeks of basic journalism and internet, the participants are now able to produce articles. Their work will be published in a supplement of this weeks Rewan newspaper. The graduation is planned for Thursday morning at the department of youth & culture in Kalar. Media and officials are invited to join. Pictures of last week's training can be found on Facebook .