An intimate documentary with devastating political force
Director Jihan K turns the camera toward an absence that has shaped her life: the disappearance of her father, Libyan dissident Mansur Rashid Kikhia, abducted under Qaddafi’s regime in 1993. Moving between personal reckoning and political history, the film traces a daughter’s search for truth and a family’s long vigil, revealing how private grief collides with state violence and historical erasure.
My Father and Qaddafi weaves between archival footage, home videos, and personal testimony to create a deeply-felt portrait about Libyan identity and the ways in which political violence can reverberate across private life with far-reaching consequences.
“Jihan’s documentary about her father’s ruthless treatment under the Qadaffi regime is a profound testimony to grief and resistance.”
Leila Latif Indiewire 02/09/2025
"Weaving family photos and home videos with news footage and in-person interviews, the documentary is both a daughter’s quest for the truth, and a potted contemporary history of Libya: from decades of brutal Italian occupation, to decades of ruthless Qaddafi rule, to a nation split between rival, hostile governments."
Farah Nayeri The NY Times 25/08/2025
"In a nation with little cinematic infrastructure, and a history ravaged by authoritarianism and war, Jihan’s undertaking became both personal and national."
Essie Asibu Variety 24/11/2025
La Biennale di Venezia, 2025, it
Best Documentary, Doha Film Festival, 2025, qa
Jury Prize, Marrakech International Film Festival, 2025, ma
Audience Award, Cinema-Med, 2025, be
Valentina Pedicini Award, MedFilm Festival, 2025, it
Jihan
Jihan K is an American-Libyan filmmaker born in exile and raised in Paris. She studied international politics with a concentration in human rights and international law, and received an MA in art education and storytelling. My Father and Qaddafi (2025), which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, is her first feature-length documentary.
