The Iraqi city of Mosul hosted an international film festival on Wednesday, with the participation of dozens of Arab and foreign artists.
The city welcomed the Nineveh Film Festival, eight years after its liberation from ISIS, which had overrun it in June 2014.
The festival runs for three days (February 5-7), featuring 398 films from 15 countries.
During the festival's opening, Iraqi Minister of Culture Ahmed Al-Fakkak stated, "The city of Mosul should be Iraq's cinematic capital, similar to other cities that have become economic and cultural capitals.
He also mentioned, "Many of our cities deserve to be cultural, artistic, and tourist capitals.