I Want to Live (2015) Online

I watched this documentary at the sideline of the Cannes Film Festival in the Student Section, it tell the story of a little boy by the name of Shendar who is sick and must have a surgery, every day that passes and he does not have this surgery, his health deteriorate for the worse. All the scenes are shot on and around a Refugees camps and we are always with Shendar, he talk about his dream, his wishes for peace, tolerance and also to have a country like others, for Shendar is a Kurd and like 40 million others Kurds he does not have a country, but the film is not about politic, nor the struggle of the Kurdish people and their fight for freedom agaisnt ISIS, it is a simple truthful story about a little boy who just want to live, his only wish as he keep saying "To have a Good health and Live". Very good documentary, truthful.

I would use the word "Elegant" to describe this film because it is optically a beautiful film, I wish one day it could be released on Blu-ray, the version I watched was online, not full HD quality, but still I found it very beautiful and poetic, like other users mentioned in their reviews, the film is very slow paced, it shows events, daily life and struggle of a little boy in a Refugee Camp, his life is simple, so the film is simple, the camera sees and shows what he sees and show, it capture life the ways it is, without manipulation, which is very rare to find in today's films, that is why I found it so moving and so elegant.

I had a chance to watch this film two years ago when it was show here in New York by the New Filmmaker. It seem like a simple film, but it not, it is very rich, what make is great is the simplicity of it, every image is carefully composed and planned in advance. What you see is the truth, simple story of a boy who only want to live. Never forgot this film and this boy, Shndar, and I'm very happy to hear he is safe now in Ireland, thanks to this film and the effort of the filmmakers, he is can get required medical treatment. I look forward seeing more film from Mr. Kardozi, an emerging talent.

One of the best thing about this films is the narration, the voice-over in the film, we never see the boy talk directly to the camera, but at times we hear him speak, in poetic manner, and that is what make the narrations so difference from the traditional style of narration in which is to have a dedicated narrator read a script which is dubbed onto the audio track, but there is no script in this film, the boy talk and the sound are matched poetically to the image. The narrator does appears on camera and have all necessarily knowledge of the subject matter which is living in a camp, the tragedy of the Kurdish people and their wish for freedom, he talk honestly about his own desire and wish to get a better health and find a treatment.

If you watch the news on daily basis, I'm sure you will see some news about the Kurdish people and their fight against ISIS, there are also many documentaries on the subject, and I have seen many of them, but I have noticed many of these documentaries only give the big picture, they talk about the politic, give number, geographical location, etc. What i loved about this documentary and found it so interesting is how the director take the viewer inside the refugees camp, give a glimpse of what is like to be a refugee, to be a Kurdish refugee, and more than a politic, the film is about the daily life of refugees, their need which are simple, but they are incapable of having, the boy is sick and want to be cured, but the problem is he cannot find treatment where he is, his need is to have a good health, a house, a roof over his head, protected from the heat and from the cold, simple needs. While watching the films I was reminded of the great Italian Neo-realism cinema of 40s and 50s, it is realistic and poetic at the same time.

This film was shown at the Anthology Film Archives here in New York presented by Jonas Mekas himself, fore more than 1 hour and 40 minutes everyone in the theater was quite, what is great and beautiful about this film is the simplicity of it, the composition of the shot are beautiful, the camera never move, except when it is inside a car or a motorcycle, the sound is very rich, and pace is slow, the filmmaker show the films as if from the POV of a refuge in the camp seeing everything, because of that everything is presented as it is, the editing, use of Music and the voice over are simple and not intended for manipulation, just 1 hour and 40 minute in the live of a little boy who only has one wish and that is to live as the title suggest, rather a simple wish, but hard for him because he is sick and must get treatment before it is too late.

I came upon watching this film by chance after I started my MA thesis on the Kurdish Struggle for Independent, out of the dozen documentaries that I have watched so far on the Kurdish issue and Kurdistan, this one is by far the best, especially when it comes to tacking the issue of Kurdish refugees and the Kurdish struggle in Rojava and their fight against ISIS, what I liked about the film is how simple it is; the filmmaker show everything from the perspective of the little boy, what he see and hear, we see and hear, we hear his wishes for a peaceful future, end of war, the right to study, read and write in Kurdish in school, for the Kurds to rule themselves, and unification of all four part of Kurdistan, these are in term of his political wish, but the film is not a political film, it is a about the live of a boy who is sick and wish to have a good health and get a treatment for his sickness, only this boy happen to be a Kurd, who live in a Refugee camps and cannot find this treatment. That is the richness of this film, it work on many levels and rich in term or narrative, but simple and beautiful like all works of Arts should be.

What I love about this Documentary is everything is shown through the eyes of a child, even the camera angles most of the time is low, for half an hour, you see the world from the point of view of this boy who live in a camp. what he see and hear is what we see and hear, nothing is exaggerated, very simple and beautiful film.

Most of thus documentary take place inside Refugee camp, it shows what life is like for these refuges, most of the time they are inside their tens watching Television, especially when its hot in the middle of the after in summer, or when at night, everyone of them gather in their tent and watch some kind of a TV shows that look like a soap opera. There are times when the boy and his brother go outside of the camp, one scene is very memorable when they go to picnic and he talk about his feeling for his homeland, how green it was and how we went on picnic there, they are happy when they are outside the camp, not so much inside. I like the way the film show both life outside and inside the camp, and all from the way this little boy sees it.

I have see a few documentaries about Refugees, I found most of them political, bias, with pro or anti Refugees sentiment, some of these very sentimental, that is until I came upon watching this documentary by chance and so far it is the best one that I have seen, it is an honest and truthful documentary that shows what it is to be a young boy living in a refugee camp, the camera show the daily life of the little boy as it is with no sentimentally or bias or sympathy asked from a viewer, there are moments of sadness, and moment of joy, just as it is in everyone's life. I love the film because it is honest, it is slow paced, but I guess that is how life is in those refugees camps, everyday the same thing repeat day after day, they are waiting for something, to go back to their homeland or a better future, but until then, they must wait, and the films captures beautifully those moments, days and weeks of waiting.

Kurdish population number more than 40 millions and they have no country of their own, their homeland is Kurdistan which is divided between Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey and they always fought for their cultural right and their freedom. I first came to know the Kurds two years ago after watching the news about ISIS attack on the Kurds and Yazidi people, and I was amazed how brave these Kurds were, especially their women in defeating ISIS and establishing their own self-government in North Syria or what is known as Rojava. So when this film was shown here in the States on IFC channel, I had to see it and it was worth it, it is not your typical documentary film, the filmmaker is truthful in showing life of these Kurdish refugees as it is, but the film also refer a great deal to the Kurdish struggle for a homeland, I was taken by the fact that the little boy, Shndar always refer to the four part of Kurdistan as North, South, East and West, and not Turkey's Kurdistan or Syrian Kurdistan, it is very moving, the fact is their might not be a Kurdistan right now on the map, but you can see and feel it in the heart, dream and hope of Shndar and other refugees. Must see film.

I watched both this film and Yol by Yilmaz Guney on the same day, both feel touched me deeply. Looking forward seeing more Kurdish films.

I love this simple film, very frame is like a poem, simple, very simple, but that is what make so beautiful, it is hard to achieve such simplicity in any art, especially in film. Much planning and thought went into each framing, the composition, the sound design. And the story, it is full of life and humanity.

This isn't an easy watch, but it's must, highly recommend nonetheless. I watch many documentaries, rarely seen such an insightful and comprehensive portrait of children in time of war. Unlike most other documentaries on the subject, we get to hear first hand accounts from a child who lived in a war zone, and kept the memory of the war with him as he struggle living in a camp.

This is a 10, beautiful and magnificent work of art. I have been to many documentaries from silent era to now, this one is one of the best, simple, yest best one.

I have a personal experience with this film. The boy in the film, Shndar, he was a patience in our hospital in Dublin. During his first visit, he spoke little broken English, only basic vocabulary of "Hello", "Good Morning" and "Goodbye". He was shy and rarely spoke to anyone, each month we would send and ambulance to his house, he would come to the hospital to get blood transfusion. One day he showed me a Youtube video on his Galaxy phone, it was this film, very surprised to see it, he was a famous patience and we did not know it. I have not seen him in a few month, I hope he is safe.

I watched this film two years ago at a Festival, never forget it. Back then everyone was talking about ISIS and the brave Kurdish Female fighters taking on ISIS, now very few people talk about ISIS, it has become history. This film is a testament to those time, never to be forgotten.

Don't expect your normal Documentary when you watch this film, because it is not, it is a truthful deception of life in a refugee camps, honest and sincere, rather poetic.

This is one of the Documentary that I have seen on the life and struggle of children in the times of wars. The film shows three days and nights in the life of a Kurdish refugee by the name of Shndar, he has some kind of a rare blood disease, and only can get a treatment for it in another country, In one of the European countries. Despite having to live in the middle of a war, in a refugee camp, with a disease, still, he has hope for the future.

In the past few years, there have been many good films about the Kurds in Rojava (East Kurdistan) and Bakur (North Kurdistan), I Want to Live (Karzan Kardozi) and Zer (Kazim Öz) is among the top two that I have seen so far. Hope to see more films in the future about Rojava and Bakur.

A sad but hopeful film. Sad because of the kids losing his life slowly in a refugee camps with the world ignoring him, but hopeful because the kid is full of hope, full of life and desire to life. Despite his hardship and his sickness, he is full of life.