Life After The Fall

After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraqi director Kasim Abid returns to Baghdad after thirty years in exile. He decides to document the huge changes his country is going through by recording the everyday life of his ordinary Shiite family. The chronologically arranged stories of individual family members capture the historic events of the past four years as well as how this large family tries to adapt to all the changes that are happening and still stick together. Kasim Abid accompanies his relations during elections. He is interested in their opinions on the political situation in the country, and he also talks to them about their private hopes and desires. He illustrates how the initial enthusiasm for regime change gradually fades. He also shows how fragile hope is exchanged for a growing feeling of disappointment and desperation, as the chaotic situation in the country makes people repeatedly fear for their lives. Abid's epic family poem won the prize for best documentary at the international Dok.Fest in Munich in 2008.