Iraq in Fragments illuminates post-war Iraq in three acts, building a vivid picture of a country pulled in different directions by religion and ethnicity. Filmed in vérité style, with no scripted narration, the film powerfully explores the lives of ordinary Iraqis: people whose thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, and concerns are at once personal and illustrative of larger issues in Iraq today. Part One follows an 11-year-old boy whose father is missing, who works as auto mechanic feverishly for approval and affection. Part Two is filmed inside the Shiite political and religious movement of Moqtada Sadr, travelling between Naseriyah and the holy city of Najaf. Part Three follows, through the eyes of brick makers and childhood friends on a farm, Iraqi Kurds as they assert their bid for independence, rebelling against the past atrocities of Baghdad rule.

Photography (colour) James Longley
Editing Billy McMillin, Fiona Otway, James Longley
Music James Longley
Sound James Longley
Production John Sinno, James Longley
Year of production 2006
Running time 94’
Format DVX-100, DVX-100A

James Longley

James Longley was born in Oregon in 1972. He studied film at the universities of Rochester and Wesleyan (USA) and at the VGIK in Moscow. His student documentary Portrait of Boy with Dog, about a boy in a Moscow orphanage, was awarded 1994 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. After doing several jobs in the US and in Russia, 2001 he travelled to Palestine to make his first feature documentary, Gaza Strip, which was screened at a number of international film festivals and in several U.S. theatres. His second documentary feature, Iraq in Fragments, has screened worldwide and earned several awards such as the FIPRESCI in Thessaloniki.