About Us
IMAGE
Why I am interested in the film industry:
When I was a small child, I saw many happenings in my country which made me wonder about how I might, someday, be able to tell these stories. Living under the control of a police state, talking to others about daily events was almost impossible; such talk was limited to quiet voices within one’s home. I had discovered from life experience that people can forget much of what they read, but could better remember the images shown on film. A five-minute movie could tell a book-long story. Realizing this, I could see what movies could accomplish. In 1991, at the time of the revolution, when we were running from the army, I saw an image which caused me to stop running, for perhaps just a few seconds. In that moment, I felt that I was alone in the world, even though I could still hear the sounds of the guns from the army. The image which had stopped me was that of a woman sitting on the ground, her dead son lying across her lap. She could not cry; her eyes were wild with bewilderment. I saw people running by, paying no attention to her as they fled. On this day, I promised myself to tell her story--- and this turned my thoughts to film. Maybe through film there would be a way, using this image, to change the world…if not the big world, the smaller world of my imagination.
“We are all alike” - A photo exhibition based on collection of imagery captured during international travels. Photo exhibitions: Hungary 2012 / Algeria 2012 / Slovakia 2012
“Jobbik: Hungarian Fascism” – My latest documentary film investigates current human rights issues in Hungary with historical references. Recently aired on an Arizona TV channel.
“Kurdish: Searching For Newroz” follows an Iraqi couple during their emigration to Sweden from one Newroz holiday to the next. Jury Selection of Phoenix Film Festival. Raied Khayoun
Biography
Raied Khayoun a native of Baghdad, Iraq. Studied philosophy at the Al-Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad. Came to the States after living two years in Jordan. He has lived in Arizona since arrival, and was able to continue his education at Scottsdale Community College, completing his BA degree with Prescott College, in Prescott, Arizona. His focus of study was filmmaking. He has worked on short movies and feature films. From an early age, Raied recognized the power of film upon people’s minds. While much of what they read might be forgotten, images caught on film… images of life under dictatorship and cruelty… such images, seen on film, might not soon be forgotten. And for him, the artistry of film, almost unlimited, can be a movie-maker’s dream, exciting and thrilling the minds of viewers in ways not possible through the written word.