My Father and Qaddafi

In My Father and Qaddafi Jihan K pieces together a father she barely remembers — Mansur Rashid Kikhia was a human rights lawyer, Libya’s foreign minister and ambassador to the United Nations. After serving in Qaddafi’s increasingly brutal regime, he defected from the government and became a peaceful opposition leader. For many, Kikhia was a rising star who could replace Qaddafi, however, in 1993 he disappeared from his hotel in Egypt. Jihan’s mother, Baha Al Omary, searched for him for nineteen years until his body was found in a freezer near Qaddafi’s palace.
Through encounters with family, her father’s colleagues, and historical archives, Jihan’s search for the truth evolves into a deeper curiosity, drawing her closer to both her father and her Libyan identity.

I don’t want my father to disappear a second time. I feel an urgency to overcome my void in the midst of Libya’s relentless chaos and instability, which I fear will eventually bury my connection to the country. Making this documentary helps me understand the importance of a father figure and the impact of losing a father on a family, a community, and even a country. Qaddafi’s tyranny and cult of personality veiled the collective memory of life before his rule, leaving many like myself, still piecing together the fragments of our Libyan identity. Sharing my father’s untold story is also sharing an untold story of Libya, one that spans almost one century of its history and politics. As I reflect with my father’s colleagues over their lost Libya, I wish I could ask my father, how did we end up like this? And how is Libya going to break free from this cycle of trouble? Since I was six years old, my mother told us the truth, and although this has tempered the shock, I still struggle with a constant surreal feeling. Despite my fragmented memories, my fears, and my cultural limitations in Libyan society, I am trying to overcome this surreal feeling and reconnect with my father and with Libya on my own terms, as an open hearted woman. This is one of the ways I am hoping to hold my father before he disappears completely from my memory and even potentially from Libya’s memory.

PRODUCTION 1:
Desert Power - Jihan K
E-mail: info@mansurkikhia.org
Web: http://www.myfatherandqaddafi.com
Social Media: @myfatherandqaddafi – Instagram

PRODUCTION 2:
Mohamed Soueid
DIFC, GV 11 - Level 6
507159 Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tel: +971 56 686 5194
E-mail: ahwakforever@gmail.com

PRODUCTION 3:
Dave Guenette
2456 Penmar Ave
90291 Venice, CA, United States of America
Tel: +1 (804) 997-9695
E-mail: daveg@piratesblend.com

PRODUCTION 4:
Sol Guy
507 18th St.
90402 Santa Monica, CA, United States of America
Tel: +1 (213) 645-4777
E-mail: sol@wearequiet.com

PRODUCTION 5:
Laika Film & Television AB - Andreas Rocksén and William Johansson Kalén
Västgötagränd 13
118 28 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: +46703011205 / +4686680540
E-mail: laika@laikafilm.se
Web: www.laikafilm.se
Social Media: @laikafilmtv - Instagram, Laika Film & Television AB - Facebook

WORLD SALES:
MAD World - Alaa Karkouti
18, Salah El-Din St., 3rd fl., Zamalek
11211 Cairo, Egypt
Tel: +20 0227357937 / +20 1011691155
E-mail: info@madworld.film
Web: http://madworld.film/
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/@officialmadfilms/ - Facebook, @madfilmsofficial_ - Instagram

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RENDEZ VOUS Press
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