Janko Sharif is a Kurdish filmmaker and screenwriter from Kobani, born in 1981, whose cinematic and visual journey moves between television directing, independent cinema, and cultural media production. He currently works as a director at Rudaw Media Network.

He began his visual career in 2004 through directing dozens of music videos and visual musical productions before gradually developing a cinematic language rooted in realism, emotional rhythm, and human-centered imagery.

Over the years, Sharif directed several short films, including Peneber and Dost in 2016, and participated as assistant director in the Austrian feature film The Lucky Pomegranate. His visual work also expanded into television documentaries, cultural programs, and human-centered visual storytelling.

Among the programs he directed is Big Story, a television program focusing on prominent Kurdish figures living in the diaspora, exploring questions of identity, exile, memory, and cultural presence through documentary-oriented visual narratives.

Alongside his directing career, Sharif worked in cultural journalism and media production, serving as cultural editor for Qamishlo Net and later editor-in-chief of Xwebûn Post newspaper between 2013 and 2014, while also contributing to artistic direction and linguistic editing for cultural and media projects.

He is also among the founding members of the Kobani International Film Festival, contributing since its earliest stages to shaping its cinematic vision and independent cultural identity.

At the 2nd edition of the Kobani International Film Festival 2021, Janko Sharif served as General Supervisor of the Film Committees, overseeing both the Selection and Jury Committees and contributing to the development of the festival’s artistic structure and cinematic evaluation process during a key formative phase in the festival’s history.