The Kurdish documentary Singing Wings (2025), directed by Hemen Khaledi, has been awarded the prestigious 2026 Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina, in the United States. Held April 16-19, the festival is renowned for its commitment to showcasing nonfiction cinema and is one of the most prominent film events in the state.

Hemen Khaledi is from Oshnavieh, also known as Shno in Kurdish, in Eastern Kurdistan (northwestern Iran). Due to the ongoing conflict in the region, he was unable to travel to the United States for the event. In his place, Xeyal Qertel, President of the New York Kurdish Cultural Center, represented him at the festival. Dressed in traditional Kurdish attire, Qertel delivered a speech before the film screening. “The audience approached me after the film; they were deeply moved and asked about my dress, Kurdish culture, and the Kurds in general,” Qertel told Kurdistan Chronicle.

“As far as I know, [Khaledi] is the first Kurdish filmmaker to receive this prestigious award, as Charles E. Guggenheim was an innovative artist,” she added.

During the award ceremony, after reading Khaledi’s message to the audience, Qertel displayed the Kurdish flag and briefed the audience on Kurdish history, stating, “Kurds, numbering over 40 million, are not represented, and our given identities do not reflect our national identity. I brought our flag here today to speak as a Kurd.”

Singing Wings follows Khadijeh, an elderly Kurdish woman who embodies her community’s deep reverence for nature and its creatures, especially storks. While caring for her ailing husband, she takes on the unexpected task of nursing a stork injured by high‑voltage wires – an animal celebrated in her village through springtime traditions, including music and dance. At the same time, she faces a more personal challenge as her daughter prepares to leave for the UK. The film traces her efforts to protect both the wounded bird and the family she hopes to keep close, offering a restrained portrait of rural Kurdish life and the emotional weight surrounding migration.