CGIS Explores Views of Iraq in Film Series

Mistaken for an Iraqi insurgent during the filming of “Dreams of Sparrows,” the documentary’s associate producer, Saad Fakher, was killed by American military troops while driving on a highway in Iraq.

A scene describing his death marked the climax of the final film screened during “Contemporary Iraqi Film” series, a group of movies from Iraq shown in CGIS-S last Thursday through Saturday.

Films included several documentaries, as well as the winning entries from Baghdad’s First International Iraq Short Film Festival in 2005.

The movies were introduced by poet, novelist, and filmmaker Sinan Antoon, who received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 2006.

The series opened with Antoon’s film “About Baghdad,” a documentary on the effect that decades of oppression, war, sanctions, and occupation have had on the capital city.

After the screening of “Dreams of Sparrows” on Saturday evening, the festival concluded with a musical performance with an oud, a traditional Iraqi instrument.

Hassan M. H. Al-Damluji, a second-year graduate student in Middle Eastern Studies and president of the Harvard Middle Eastern Cultural Association, and undergraduate Tamara Jafar ’09 organized the event.

Al-Damluji said that his goals were to provide Iraqi filmmakers with a platform for their work and to raise awareness about issues such as the state of refugees and higher education in Iraq.

“Iraq is in danger of dropping from people’s minds,” Al-Damluji said.

The screenings were free of charge, but organizers said that any money donated would be given to Rally for Iraq, a charity that supports Iraqis pursuing higher education anywhere in the world.

Al-Damluji stressed the importance of seeing the reality of the situation in Iraq and understanding its complex nature.

“We should only start looking at solutions when we understand the damage that has been done,” he said.