our story
Founded in Vancouver in 2025, by a poet who became a producer.
the founder
Kochar Abubaker is a Kurdish author, producer, and cultural activist based in Vancouver, where she founded Haniko Film Corp. in 2025. She advocates passionately for women's rights and has authored the autobiographical novel Nothingness and the award-winning poetry collection My Father's Pigeons.
Since moving to Canada in 2016, Kochar has remained a powerful voice for Kurdish women, championing their stories and struggles, and has supported refugee resettlement through Journey Home Community in British Columbia. Haniko carries that same conviction onto the screen: that neither poetry nor production has to be diluted for the other.
"The most powerful bridges between cultures are built one honest story at a time."
Kochar Abubaker
selected work
also involved with
why we exist
Haniko exists to carry Kurdish stories into the world without asking them to shrink to fit, and to bring the world's stories home to Kurdish audiences with the same respect.
While the focus is Kurdish film, Haniko is equally open to international cinematic work, met with the same care and respect.
how we work toward it
Documentary and narrative work centered on Kurdish life, land, and language, without exoticizing or over-explaining.
Actively seek co-productions and cross-border storytelling partnerships, rather than working in isolation.
Treat Kurdish as a cinematic language in its own right, subtitled and scored with the same rigor as any major festival entry.
Support the next generation of Kurdish and diaspora filmmakers, especially women, as Haniko grows.
what we hold to
| Rootedness | Kurdish language, land, and memory are treated as subject matter worth full craft, not backdrop. |
|---|---|
| Bridge-building | Every slate includes at least one project pairing Kurdish stories with another culture or tradition. |
| Poetic rigor | Visual and narrative choices favor precision and restraint: trust the image, trust the silence. |
| Access without dilution | Subtitled and contextualized for international audiences, without simplifying Kurdish specificity. |
| Independence | Small and founder-led by design, able to take on stories a larger studio might consider too specific. |