"Homeland (Iraq Year Zero)", Abbas Fahdel, 2016. All rights reserved.Through a hand-held camera, Abbas Fahdel’s two-part documentary Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) documents the lives of his family members, friends and acquaintances, leading up to the US invasion of Iraq, and thereafter over the course of two years. This film is a historical, albeit chilling, documentation of what the people of Iraq endured, and are still enduring the repercussions of.
Before the fall
Abbas dives into the lives of his relatives gradually, but in such a way that, as an audience member, you feel that you have become part of a traditional Iraqi family. It starts off on the first day of the feast: the family wakes up in the cozy confines of their home. Over the course of approximately 6 hours, celebrations, daily errands, and family chatter provide a rich background to life prior to and during war.
What is beautiful in this documentary is the intimacy by which each character is portrayed, allowing the audience to grasp the dynamics of the family with Abbas’ nephew, Haidar, taking a more prominent role. As one enjoys peering into the lives of others, reality hits – just like that of war approaching – when Abbas informs the audience via overlaid text which of the family members will not make it to the end of the film.
