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The Harvard Film Archive is pleased to present
Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) by Abbas Fahdel
Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) is a riveting home-movie chronicle of life in Iraq before and after the US invasion. Offering all-too-rare images of everyday life in Iraq, the film closely follows extended family members and friends of director Abbas Fahdel as they brace for the long impending attack and then struggle to survive the disastrous consequences of American imperialism. Leaving the invasion itself eerily absent, Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) is cleaved into two epic chapters starkly separated by a dark, gaping chasm. Part 1. Before the Fall offers a touching portrait of middle-class Iraq, assembled from extended domestic scenes and debates among Baghdad friends and neighbors, as well as a wedding that becomes an emotional centerpiece of the entire film. Part 2. After the Battle bravely takes to the street to survey, with shock and unspoken outrage, the ruthless destruction of public and private space wrought by the occupying US forces. Director Abbas Fahdel will be at both screenings. Watch the trailer here.
"Homeland counts among the most essential and urgent documentaries of recent times, required viewing for anyone still unable to understand the US invasion. At times recalling Frederick Wiseman, Fahdel's intrepidly curious yet always unassuming camera patiently gathers intimate moments to assemble a rough-hewn epic of naturalist cinema and a searing, courageous act of testimony." – Haden Guest
Special thanks: Emmanuelle Marchand—Consulate General of France, Boston; Mathieu Fournet, Amélie Garin-Davet—Film Office, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, New York; and Jeffrey Ruoff, Dartmouth College.
Saturday, October 1 at 7:00 pm
Abbas Fahdel in conversation with Kennedy Scholar Zena Agha
Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) – Part 1. Before the Fall
Directed by Abbas Fahdel
Iraq/France 2015, DCP, color, 160 min. Arabic with English subtitles
$12 Special Event Ticket
Sunday, October 2 at 7:00 pm
Abbas Fahdel in person
Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) – Part 2. After the Battle
Directed by Abbas Fahdel
Iraq/France 2015, DCP, color, 174 min. Arabic with English subtitles
$12 Special Event Tickets
Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, (617) 495-4700. Tickets go on sale 45 minutes prior to show time. The HFA does not do advance ticket sales. http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa.
Contact: Britanny Gravely