IMAGINATION AS WEAPON

Hassan Blasim, writer and film maker, takes on the cruel fairy tale that is reality with convincing weaponry: imagination and a strong sense of language. His stories are fantastic, in every sense of the word. Direct, raw and tinged with black humour. In 1998, Hassan left for Iraqi Kurdistan, where he continued to make movies under a pseudonym, since he feared for his family’s safety under the regime of Saddam Hussein. A year later he left Iraq and journeyed as an immigrant through Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria and Hungary, before settling in Finland in 2004, where he continues to live and work.

Photo: Katja Bohm