My Country, My Country

The saddest thing about My Country, My Country is that the people who need to see this the most (those people who think that Americans are liberators in Iraq and those who think Iraqis are ignorant babies who cannot govern themselves and are better off under American occupation) are the exact people who will never go and see it.

My Country, My Country is a documentary about Iraqi society in the months leading up to the historic elections on January 31, 2005. Director Laura Poitras follows a doctor from Baghdad who's running for City Council, the United Nations team who will organize and monitor the elections, and a private security firm from Australian that's hired to oversee the security and safety of the elections.

Dr. Riyadh is an amazing man. Not only does he work for a free clinic in Baghdad, and not only does he help his friends and neighbors by giving them money when they need it, but he also goes to the Abu Ghrabi Prison Camp to speak with the prisoners and learn about their health problems and living conditions. He's a soft-spoken man, but a smart and compassionate man – the kind of man you want to see in a position of power in Baghdad.

So the good news is that there are intelligent people in Iraq who are more than capable of governing their own country. The bad news is that this war has made their lives hell. Two months before the elections and Baghdad is in ruins, with no running water and no electricity. Families don't go out for fear of being killed, and rightfully so. One day before the election, a friend of Dr. Riyadh's is a wreck because his son has been kidnapped and the extremists want ransom money to pay for more weapons.

The good news is that, despite the death threats and warnings from extremists, millions of Iraqis went out and voted on January 31, 2005. The bad news is that Dr. Riyadh didn't get elected to the City Council. The good news is that the kidnapped son was returned a few days later. The bad news is that over a year and a half later, the war wages on with no end in sight.

Sometimes when a very different culture is in the news, there can be a bombardment of ideology, attention-grabbing news clips, and death reported as a daily occurrence. It can become difficult to imagine the folk of that country as ordinary people the same as you or I, reasonable, trying to do their jobs and maybe make sense of the world around them, or having normal, caring interaction with their families. How can you get to the point of recording that honestly on film, especially if just being there may influence what you are told, and also carry the risk of getting your head blown off? To intrepid documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, this was apparently no obstacle. She spent hours and hours not just with policy-makers but with one particular family until they trusted her so much she could just wander into their living room and capture conversations unheeded. No crew, just her and a translator.

My Country, My Country follows the period of the January 2005 Iraqi elections, and especially through the eyes of one man, a Dr Riyadh, who operates a free medical clinic in Baghdad. Poitras maybe felt that, by focussing on a doctor, she could minimise political overtones in the film - someone who is educated, a family man (he has six children) and in a job where the day to day struggle of helping the sick probably takes priority over all else. If she has achieved this lack of political judgementalism however, it is in no small part due to looking and finding the best motives, arguments, realistic assessments and good will, on all sides. Remarkably, there is no attempt to portray anyone in a bad light. At a time when many people are asking, "How can we improve the situation," rather than allocating blame, using the best examples of what exists already is not a bad starting point.

My Country, My Country has no voice-over. The starting point of the film is when his wife asks him, "Are you going to vote?" and we sense that the question is a heavy one. They have just eaten breakfast together (with no electricity), but the flashback that is the rest of the film shows the emotional tensions that such a question involves. The journey that we take with the Riyadhs is both traumatic and enlightening.

As we travel through his increasingly battered life in horribly battered Baghdad - the capital of a country he genuinely loves - we are struck first of all by Poitras' camera-work: we are used to footage of Iraq that simply concentrates on war reportage, so it is immediately refreshing to see professional work that instead pays attention to composition, light and shade, and the use of colour. It feels fresh and intimate as the lens explores the shattered city and broken architecture, people's expressions or the beauty of nature and a simple shepherd with his flock on the hills. This cleverly allows us to 'get a feel' of the place in a way that we are not used to when it comes to Iraq.

Persuaded perhaps by friends and patients, Dr Riyadh decides to stand for election in a minority party. When the day comes he naturally wants his family to turn out and vote as well. Yet it is amid an atmosphere of death threats and assassinations. The insurgents have promised that those who turn up to vote will become rivers of blood. As each of the family returns from the polling booth, they excitedly display the ink-marked finger. There is a mixture of pride, daring, adrenalin-fuelled excitement at the new experience, plus an admission that they hid the inkstain on the way back in case it prompted an attack.

In an earlier scene, Riyadh's adolescent daughter, bubbling about merrily (as teenagers do), is thrown off guard by a rocket exploding nearby, and doesn't know whether to run and see it or hide in the cupboard.

The real bombshells though are emotional ones. A fellow physician is visiting, telling the family how his son has been kidnapped that morning. He told the American soldiers, who were very sympathetic. In between his account, he is repeatedly trying to phone the kidnappers but can't get through. Suddenly he realises that the phone had been left between attempts on and the conversation overheard. The insurgents tell him he will be killed.

Equally moving is the time when Riyadh goes to the fence of Abu Ghraib prison and realises there is a nine year old boy being held captive. Or the time when an American officer, briefing his men, remembers to mention two of his team who have been lost: at first it seems like he is following form, but then his voice cracks and he breaks down for several moments, controlling emotion with difficulty as he says, "They are with us every day." Tears are shed, and they are not tears of fanatical fervour. My Country, My Country, is not a film about hotheads: it is a chance for us to follow the conversations and understanding of intelligent, well-meaning people on all sides, and their efforts (sometimes superhuman).

Dr Riyadh's daughter has voted - for the first time in her life - her excitement and youthfulness suggests the hope of a new beginning. The haunting words of the title song cry plaintively: "My country, my country, I yearn to see you smile some day. When will sadness set you free?" Of all the films I have seen out of Iraq so far, I cannot think of one that has moved me so much.

It is a moving documentary. The director was given full access by US military, and being a woman, was able to film inside the living room of an Iraqi family with only women present.

The different clips are well edited, and the documentary has a nice balance and feel to it.

There is a (now hilarious) scene in a classroom-setting in which a US-based contractor is teaching to several adult men what democracy is.

The US military is shown as courteous and understanding, so don't mistake this documentary as an anti-occupation rant. It is more about the anxieties of a middle-class family, opposed to violence ("live and let live"), and the aspirations of an every-day family to make their world a better world.

This has heart and it doesn't take sides. It's a portrait of real people. It also portrays what life in a country that's been invaded and occupied by another country is like.

Nominated for a best documentary Oscar, this had no chance against the front runner. It is an obscure movie in spite of its nomination and it is difficult to find on IMDb unless one searches diligently and perseveres in the search.

Others have told you what this documentary is. It follows the family of one of the candidates in the 2005 election. You see what their day to day life is like in present day Baghdad.

Whether you believe we belong there or not, this is a must-see film.

This film is a look at what a mess the Iraq situation is under American occupation. It was filmed from June 2004 thru February 2005. Among other things, it shows the emotional toll the occupation has caused on Iraqis and also on the American soldiers and one wonders what became of the people that appeared in the documentary and if the occupation was worth it. This film was one of the five nominated for an Oscar in the Documentary Feature category during the 79th Annual Academy Awards. Another film nominated and dealing with this subject was "Iraq In Fragments" which I recommend, although I liked "My Country, My Country" better. The winner of the Oscar was "An Inconvenient Truth" --- The other two films nominated were "Deliver Us From Evil" and "Jesus Camp," both were excellent. All five of these documentaries deserve to be seen and they are worth your time. ADDITION (10/7/10): Another excellent documentary dealing with the subject of the Iraq war, is "Gunner Palace" (2004) which I also recommend.