Iraq in Fragments (2006)

Stories from modern day Iraq as told by Iraqis living in a time of war, occupation and ethnic tension.

Director:

James Longley

Stars:

Mohammed Haithem, Suleiman Mahmoud, Muqtada al-Sadr

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Mohammed Haithem	...	Himself
Suleiman Mahmoud	...	Himself

Storyline

Iraq in Fragments illuminates post-war Iraq in three acts, building a picture of a country pulled in different directions by religion and ethnicity. Filmed in verité style with no scripted narration, the film explores the lives of ordinary Iraqis to illustrate and give background to larger trends in Iraqi society.

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Plot Keywords:

iraq | religion | territory name in title | country name in title | war zone | 

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Genres:

Documentary | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

Kurdish Arabic

Release Date:

19 January 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

Irak w kawalkach

Filming Locations:

Baghdad, Iraq

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,435, 12 November 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$204,462

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daylight Factory,Typecast Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Four complete chapters were edited for the film, but only three chapters are included in the final version. The missing chapter deals with the struggle of an Iraqi woman whose 10-year-old son is dying of AIDS.

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Connections

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007)

User Reviews

Sick of the Michael Moore cheap shots - this film stands on its own merits

Getting pretty tired of these conservatives taking cheap shots at Michael Moore every time they review a documentary. It's as if they're obsessed with the guy ever since he exposed their lies. In this film, however, Longley wanted to get up close and personal, and the cinema verite approach he chose lends itself perfectly to putting the viewer in the lives of his subjects. In the first segment, Longley follows the depressingly hopeless existence of young Mohammed Haithem, an 11-year-old boy living in the heart of old Baghdad. Mohammed's father has disappeared, he lives with his grandmother, and seesaws between struggling to get an education, where he is four years behind and struggling to learn to write his name, and working as a shop apprentice to help support his family.

Longley's lens captures Mohammed's gloomy neighborhood with dismal clarity -- the poverty, the frustration of the Sunni population at the sudden rise in power of the majority Shia, long repressed by Saddam Hussein's Baathist government, who are gaining power and control for the first time in years and making it difficult for the Sunnis to find work. Somber men play backgammon and talk bitterly about the United States only wanting Iraqi oil. "We don't care about the oil," one man says. "Why don't they just take it and leave us alone?" Rent it, buy it, watch it. It's worthy.