'No Paradise If You Are Killed by a Woman', directed by Norwegian-Kurdish filmmaker Halkawt Mustafa, has premiered out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and is Iraq's official submission for the Best International Feature Oscar. The drama follows Vyan, a young Kurdish sniper in the Peshmerga forces, as she seeks revenge and rescue after Islamic State kills her parents and enslaves her and her sister; Variety's review calls it visually striking but warns it may struggle to satisfy Western audiences seeking either more action or greater arthouse subtlety, while noting strong prospects in MENA markets via Sony/Empire distribution.

The film stars London-based Kurdish actor Avan Jamal as Vyan, a 24-year-old émigré from Norway whose family is attacked while visiting Iraqi Kurdistan in 2014; she escapes captivity, joins an elite female Peshmerga sniper unit, and reportedly kills over 100 enemy fighters, prompting IS to place a $1 million bounty on her. After being wounded and returning to Norway, she learns her sister is still held in Mosul and undertakes a solo rescue mission, in a film Mustafa says was inspired by his work as a war photographer and his 2015 TV project on female IS fighters, dedicated to his daughters.