A film by Karrar Al-Azzawi
TRAILER
CREDITS
ORIGINAL TITLE |
BAGHDAD ON FIRE
DOCUMENTARY | NORWAY | 60 MIN (54 MIN, 52 MIN & 31 MIN AVAILABLE) | COLOR | 2K DCP
FEATURING |
TIBA FADHIL, YOUSIF SATAR and KHADER ELIAS TAHA
WRITER AND DIRECTOR |
KARRAR AL-AZZAWI
PRODUCERS |
JØRGEN LORENTZEN and NEFISE ÖZKAL LORENTZEN
CINEMATOGRAPHY |
HUSSEIN MONAF and BASHER SALMAN
PRODUCTION MANAGER IN BAGHDAD |
MOHAMMED AZIZ
EDITOR |
MORTEN HASLERUD
COMPOSER (FEATURE) |
SIMON M. VALENTINE and NAWAR ALNADDAF
COMPOSER (SHORT) |
NASEER SHAMMA and SIMON M. VALENTINE
SOUND DESIGN AND SOUND MIX (FEATURE) |
DANIEL ANGYAL
SOUND DESIGN AND SOUND MIX (SHORT) |
ANNA NILSSON
COLORIST |
ANDERS HOFT
IMPACT PRODUCER |
ABEER BAYAZIDI (COMMON GOOD)
PRODUCTION COMPANY |
INTEGRAL FILM
© INTEGRAL FILM
SYNOPSIS
This film is an intimate and dramatic journey following Tiba, an Iraqi young woman fighting for freedom and equality. Twenty years has passed since the US-led invasion of Iraq and the fall of Saddam Hussein. On October 1st 2022 young men and women gather in thousands
at Tahrir square in the middle of Baghdad to celebrate the 3 years anniversary of the largest youth demonstrations in the history of Iraq. They demonstrate against chaos, corruption and conflicts in the aftermath of the invasion. One of the demonstrators is 19-year-old Tiba.
In this society that prevents the mixing of the sexes, men and women were standing side by side to fight for freedom and democratic change. This generation had had enough of militias, corrupt politicians, and foreign interference. They wanted Iraq to belong to them. And Tiba wanted to join her friends Yousif and Khader, along with thousands of other youngsters on the square, to demonstrate.
The three friends started a medical team, spending days and nights together in their tent on Tahrir Square. They laugh, cry, are terrified and face danger, feeling the desire of youth for change and the strength of Iraqi women.
As one of the leaders of the 2019 demonstrations Tiba chooses to continue her fight for freedom, for a new Iraq and a better future, even though she’s traumatised and depressed because many people are leaving the demonstrations. At the same time, she’s trying to concentrate on her studies at home.
The film follows Tiba’s transformation from forced marriage and abuse to a young woman fighting for her rights. She wants to study and have an independent job, and to fight for democracy and for a new generation being together in a different way. Will she manage this?
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Karrar Al-Azzawi
My dream is to see Iraqi women and men free and liberated. Everyone has freedom of expression and the same opportunities. I and Tiba share the same dream. We want to be free and want to see Iraq free of religious control and militia groups.
When I was searching for the main character for my film, I was looking for a strong Iraqi woman who is part of the youth demonstrations and wants to make change in Iraq. In this film I wanted to tell the story from the woman’s perspective, but it’s not easy to find an Iraqi woman who agree to be filmed. When I first met Tiba I was confident that I found my character.
I found in Tiba’s story what is very much like many Iraqi women’s stories.
But her transformation from an abused girl to one of the leaders of the youth movement is very inspiring. Tiba and I share the same childhood. Tiba was 3 years old, and I was 9, when US invaded our homeland Iraq.
We have been through a lot of struggles in the following years after the invasion. We have been through a civil war, chaos, insecurity, militias and ISIL. As well as the lack of freedom, hope and opportunities.
We have had several corrupt governments – and are still experiencing oppression from the regime. Yet, we still dream of a better Iraq and a free Iraq for all Iraqis.
Since 2014, I was demonstrating and organizing demonstrations together with my friends in Baghdad. I’m one of them and I want to tell the story from within the community about the individuals making this happen.
With the unique access to Tiba and her friends I want to show to the world what is happening in Iraq from the eyes of this young Iraq generation, my generation. I believe that film have the power to change in one way or another by making the audience feel and experience the life and the journey of my protagonist in the film.
For me, making this film is my way to demonstrate and fight together with Tiba and the Iraqi youth. I want to tell the story of this generation, my generation, and bring their voices out into the world. I want the world to know stories about the new, modern generation as humans and fighters, not as victims. The young Iraqi people trying to rebuild their beloved homeland and all they want is to live in peace and freedom after a long run of wars, conflicts, and corruption.
In this film, I want to challenge the stereotypical views on Iraqi women. I want to push the borders of the audience by letting them experience their prejudices. My goal is not just to provide information,but also to let the audience experience an emotional journey to this unknown universe that is very close to them.
I want to show other options and possibilities. Through this film I will present the possibilities of a reformation within the Iraqi society.
FILM CREW
KARRAR AL-AZZAWI
THE DIRECTOR
Karrar Al-Azzawi is an Iraqi filmmaker who lives in Norway. He is a BFA student at the TV School, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Lillehammer, Bachelor of Film- Directing and he will finish Spring 2023. He works as an independent film director as well as working at Integral Film. His vision is to contribute to changing the world by fostering greater understanding and solidarity between people.
“Baghdad on fire” is Al-Azzawi’s international debut film. He is currently working on making it into his first feature film. In addition, he is working with a documentary film called “Dreaming Souls” which tell the story of two girls with Down Syndrome, one girl from Iraq and one from Norway.
During his five years in the asylum process, he made the short film ’’Just Crumbs’’ (2016) and organized international photography exhibitions called “Forgotten”, in several European countries with the aim to raise awareness about the refugee situation around the world.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN
PRODUCER
JØRGEN LORENTZEN, Producer at Integral Film. Former journalist and professor in gender studies at The University of Oslo. He has produced 17 films including the short documentary Kayayo (2016), which was short-listed for an Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards, the award-winning documentaries Seyran Ates: Sex, Revolution and Islam (2021) and The Art of Whistling (2021), and this year the documentary Baghdad on fire. He directed the documentary film A Gift From God (2019), which investigates the truth behind the failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.
“Baghdad on fire” is Al-Azzawi’s international debut film. He is currently working on making it into his first feature film. In addition, he is working with a documentary film called “Dreaming Souls” which tell the story of two girls with Down Syndrome, one girl from Iraq and one from Norway.
During his five years in the asylum process, he made the short film ’’Just Crumbs’’ (2016) and organized international photography exhibitions called “Forgotten”, in several European countries with the aim to raise awareness about the refugee situation around the world.
NEFISE ÖZKAL LORENTZEN
PRODUCER
Nefise Özkal Lorentzen is a Turkish-Norwegian writer, filmmaker and professor at the faculty of Audiovisual Media and Creative Technologies at Innland University, Norway. She received her B.A in Political Science at Bosphorus University in Istanbul and her M.A in Media and Communication at the University of Oslo.
Over the past two decades she has produced and directed several controversial documentaries related to Islam. As a result of her dedication to LGBTQ rights and human rights activism through her films, she’s been named one of the TOP 10 immigrant role models in Norway. Her trilogy of films entitled, Gender Me (2008), A Balloon for Allah (2011) and Manislam (2014), brings alive these untold stories through public visibility. Her recent film Seyran Ates: Sex, Revolution and Islam (2021) shows that change within Islam is possible.
Nefise has received several awards and nominations, and her films have premiered in prestigious festivals such as IDFA, Rhode Island Film Festival, and Göteborg Film Festival among others. She was nominated for the History Makers Award in NYC. Utilizing her workshop concept, “gender activism through films”, she has cooperated with various NGOs in Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, Turkey, Germany, USA etc. She hopes one day gender segregation and violence against women will be a long-forgotten aspect of history.
Hussain Monaf
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Hussain Monaf studied at Baghdad Academy of Fine Arts. He is a cinematographer with more than 8 years of experience in the industry. He has worked on several films and Iraqi TV series, such as Kamamat Watan (2020), Shl’e Qala’e (2019), Qett Ahmar (2021) and The Nigh of the Fall.
Basher Salman
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Basher Salman graduated from the College of Fine Arts at the University of Baghdad. He is a cinematographer and has worked on documentary films such as One from a Million, Year to Victory and Cotton Generator.
Morten Haslerud
EDITOR
Morten Haslerud is a seasoned film and television editor with more than 15 years of industry experience. «Baghdad On Fire» is his fifth editing collaboration with Integral Film. He has also edited their previous feature documentaries, «Seyran Ates: Sex, Revolution and Islam» (2021) and «A Gift From God» (2019), the short documentary «Syrialism» (2020) and the short film «Those Who Love» (2017). In addition to his editing work, Morten is also a fiction film director with a particular flair for the horror genre. His latest short film, «Antique» (2020), won six awards and screened at more than 20 international film festivals world-wide.
“Baghdad on fire” is Al-Azzawi’s international debut film. He is currently working on making it into his first feature film. In addition, he is working with a documentary film called “Dreaming Souls” which tell the story of two girls with Down Syndrome, one girl from Iraq and one from Norway.
During his five years in the asylum process, he made the short film ’’Just Crumbs’’ (2016) and organized international photography exhibitions called “Forgotten”, in several European countries with the aim to raise awareness about the refugee situation around the world.
Mohammed Aziz
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Mohammed Aziz graduated from the College of Fine Arts at the University of Baghdad. He is a director and production manager. He has worked as a war correspondent and has collaborated with several humanitarian organizations such as UN women, Red Cross and NRC.
Mohammed Aziz
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Daniel Angyal is a sound designer who has worked in the film industry for about 20 years. His background is mostly from working at different Norwegian post production facilities where he has worked or supervised several titles mostly children feature films/action/adventure/animations, documentaries and shorts. Winner of Norwegian Filmworkers’ Association’s Technical Award for short film “The Tunnel” by Andre Øvredal, Supervising Sound Editor for 3 time winner and 4 time nominated “Operation Arctic” Amanda award winner Best Children’s or Youth Film of 2015, supervising sound editor on 4 times nominated feature “Drib” premiered at SXSW (2017).
FILM FESTIVAL
2023
Denmark | Copenhagen International Documentary Festival
2023
USA | BIG SKY DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
2023
USA | SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL | WORLD PREMIERE
2023
Canda | Festival international du court métrage au Saguenay
THE GALLERY
Official Clips | Baghdad on Fire
