Navigating Family Trauma and Libyan History | Jihan K, DIrector of "My Father and Qaddafi"

The director of award-winning documentary, My Father and Qaddafi (بابا والقذافي), Jihan K, explores in this episode the nine-year creative journey of reclaiming a family narrative after the 1993 kidnapping of her father, Mansour Kikhia, a former Libyan Foreign Minister turned peaceful opposition leader. Jihan shares a nuanced perspective on her childhood in exile, moving beyond a standard investigative lens to build a collage of Libya using intimate family archives and interviews with a dying generation. The conversation delves into the strength of the director's mother—who led a 19-year international search while nurturing a joyful home—and the challenge of defining "Libyan-ness" for a diaspora generation seeking an identity separate from politics or dictatorship. By humanizing historical figures and bridging a generational fracture, Jihan offers a tender, sophisticated look at memory, loss, and the moral responsibility of preserving a country’s history.

 

00:00 Introduction

04:58 The Disappearance of Mansour Kikhia

08:08 Discovery, Closure, and the Libyan Civil War

10:45 A Gold Mine of Family Archives

20:50 The Mother as Hero and Warrior

23:42 Reclaiming History From Qaddafi’s Foggy Lens

30:52 Identity and the Libyan Diaspora

35:45 Interviewing a Dying Generation

50:28 Humanizing the Dictator

58:21 Final Thoughts

 

Jihan was born in exile and raised in Paris while her father, a Libyan human rights lawyer, was the peaceful opposition leader to Qaddafi’s regime. After her father disappeared from Cairo, her family lived between the United States and France, while her mother, a Syrian artist, fought for justice in an international campaign. Jihan received her BA in International and Comparative Politics with a concentration in Human Rights, Philosophy, and International Law and her MA in Art Education and Storytelling.

Hosted by:

Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/?hl=en-gb

 

FOLLOW & RATE THE AFIKRA PODCAST:

» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doha-film-institute-podcast-powered-by-afikra/id1893085312

» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5R1nXmlFpCH4dqegNf2U0E 

 

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK

Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl6boT4njw9GEJNzC3f0bbDQ

 

ABOUT AFIKRA

afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.

📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters

🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts

⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official

🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.