Kurdwin Ayub (Kurdish: Kurdvîn Eyûb; born 1990) is a Kurdish-Austrian filmmaker and artist based in Vienna. Her fiction feature debut Sonne (Sun) won the Best First Feature Award at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival.
Early life and education Ayub was born to Kurdish parents in Duhok, Iraq; her family came to Austria as refugees when she was a child. She was educated in Vienna, studying painting and animation at the University of Applied Arts and studying performance art at the city's Academy of Fine Arts.
Career Ayub began directing short films in 2009 and was awarded the MehrWERT Short Film Award at the Vienna International Film Festival in 2011 and 2012.
Paradies! Paradies! (Paradise! Paradise!), Ayub's feature-length directorial debut, followed her father Omar as he visited Kurdish relatives in Duhok after fleeing the city in 1991. The documentary screened at the 2016 Diagonale Film Festival, where Ayub was awarded the Best Camera prize. Her 2018 short film Boomerang was awarded the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Max Ophüls Film Festival in 2019.
In 2022, Ayub's full-length fiction debut Sonne (Sun), about three girls who film a music video while wearing burqas, received the Best First Film Award at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival. The film was nominated for the European Discovery of the Year at the 35th European Film Awards.
Mond (Moon), Ayub's 2024 fiction feature about a former martial artist who travels to Jordan to train the daughters of a wealthy family, premiered in the international competition at the 77th Locarno Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Leopard. The film won the Special Jury Prize, the Europa Cinemas Label and the Boccalino d'Oro, and received a special mention from the Ecumenical Jury.
Her films have been discussed in relation to migration, feminism and the rejection of racialized victim narratives.
She is regarded as a representative of the Austrian New Wave."Die New Wave des österreichischen Kinos: Florian Pochlatko im FM4 Filmpodcast", ORF FM4; 22 September 2025
Filmography Feature films Year English title Original title Ref. 2016 Paradise! Paradise! Paradies! Paradies! 2022 Sun Sonne 2024 Moon Mond
Short films Year Title Ref. 2009 Mutterkindpass 2010 Kaiserschnitt Homevideo Die Intrige und die Archenmuscheln 2011 Schneiderei Sommerurlaub Katzenjammer 2012 Familienurlaub 2013 sexy 2014 VIDEO 1 2018 Affection von Violet Spin Boomerang Armageddon 2019 pretty-pretty 2020 LOLOLOL
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref. 2016 Diagonale Film Festival Best Camera Paradies! Paradies! (Paradise! Paradise!) 2019 Max Ophüls Film Festival Jury Prize for Best Short Film Boomerang 2022 Berlin International Film Festival Best First Film Award Sonne (Sun) European Film Awards European Discovery of the Year 2024 Locarno Film Festival Golden Leopard Mond (Moon) Special Jury Prize
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