Synopsis

Director: Layth Abdulamir

Iraqi filmmaker Layth Abdulamir travels along the Tigris to find the common roots of his often mistreated and misunderstood country. His camera captures the cultural, social and historical heritage of men and women who weave the fabric of this diverse country. Kurds, Arabs, Turkomen, Shiites, Sunnies and Christians, all make up the a close-up of a particular “identity” that prospered, suffered and finally ended when the Coalition’s tanks arrived into what was once the Garden of Eden.

Q & A

The director, Layth Abdulamir, will be present for a question and answer session after the screening.

Biography

Layth hold a Masters in fine art and has studied cinema at the Sorbonne University in Paris. He worked from 1999-2004 at Dubai TV and has directed many documentary and feature films.

Plus Short: Where is Iraq?

Synopsis

Still from 'Where is Iraq'

Seventy-five days before Saddam Hussein was captured by the U.S. Army, an Iraqi-Canadian filmmaker tries to re-enter his homeland after 27 years of forced exile. In Jordan, he meets other Iraqis who are no longer able to cross the border: workers without jobs, truckers, cab drivers and anxious refugees. Worn down by years of war, sanctions, arbitrary arrests, torture and fear of execution, the men angrily recall the darkest years of the fallen regime.

Still stunned by the course of events and uncertain about the future, they have no faith in the Americans, whom they believe are out for their oil. “Are we another Palestine?” asks one of them. Shot in the thick of the action amid the ongoing chaos, the film reveals Iraqi opinions and their versions of the unfolding story.

Director Spotlight: Baz Shamoun

Baz Shamoun

Baz Shamoun is of Iraqi origin and has lived in Europe since 1978, he emigrated to Canada since1997. He studied television and film at Karlova University in Prague. He started working and developing as independent filmmaker “cinema realism” at the end of the 90s; he directed and produced several short documentary films for TV.

At the moment he is producing and directing a future documentary film under title “The Alien & the Worries of the Angels” and a semi fiction Monologue the Fading Life.

• Director: Baz Shamoun
• 20 mins, 2004  Jordan/ Canada
• Language: Arabic with English Subtitles
• Documentary