Genius Film Festival: Iraq in Fragments
Dec 12, 2015
(James Longley, United States, 2006, 35mm, 94 min)
Presented with The Frye Art Museum
Free screening! Register through the Genius Film Festival
35mm print!
James Longley’s acclaimed documentary explores the lived realities of Iraqis in an era of oppression, violence, and societal upheaval. An opus in three parts, Iraq In Fragments offers a series of intimate, passionately-felt portraits: A fatherless 11-year-old is apprenticed to the domineering owner of a Baghdad garage; Sadr followers in two Shiite cities rally for regional elections while enforcing Islamic law at the point of a gun; a family of Kurdish farmers welcomes the US presence, which has allowed them a measure of freedom previously denied.
Longley spent more than two years filming in Iraq to create this stunningly photographed, poetically rendered documentary of the war-torn country as seen through the eyes of Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. Winner of Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing awards in the 2006 Sundance Film Festival documentary competition, the film was also awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.