About Baghdad

The five creators of this film, led by Iraqi exile writer and poet Sinan Antoon, set off to Baghdad in June of 2003, three months after the fall of the Hussein regime, to find out how the years of oppression, war, and the current chaotic situation affected the life of average Iraqis. In a diversely arranged collage of interviews the creators tried to go beyond the traditional media coverage and understand the complexity of the voices of the Iraqi people, who had mostly been marginalized. Crowds of unemployed, angry and frustrated men, artists, taxi drivers, zealous communists, professors from the local bombed-out university and former prisoners of Hussein's concentration camps all come forth to share their ideas in front of the camera, giving voice to those who no one from the outside world had listened to before. In an effort to objectively reflect the turbulent relationship between the Iraqis and the USA, the creators of the film also give space to the views of American soldiers working in the "Green Zone". From the wide spectrum of ideas the viewers are able to create a complete picture of the past, the difficult present, and the hope for the future of the Iraqi people.