Iraqis under the Occupation: A Survey of Documentaries

Abstract

Since the U.S.-led of the willing invaded Iraq in March 2003, at least eighteen feature-length, nonfiction films about the invasion and its aftermath have received some kind of theatrical release. Several more, such as HBO's Ghosts of Abu Ghraib (2007) and Last Letters Home (2005), have been financed by and shown on television, and a number of other feature-length and shorter films lacking theatrical distribution have premiered at film festivals, on television, or in independent theaters and have subsequently enjoyed a life on DVD (such as David O. Russell's Soldiers Pay [2004], a documentary follow-up to his magnificent fiction film about the first Gulf War, Three Kings [1999]). Taking into consideration only the feature-length films that have been shown in theaters in Manhattan over the past fouranda-half years, what is striking is not just their number more films have been made more quickly about the invasion of Iraq than any other military action in history but their diversity. Many are critical of the invasion and subsequent occupation. However, the targets of their critiques vary. Some take on the Bush administration {Fahrenheit 9/11 [2004], Uncovered: The War on Iraq [2004], No End in Sight [2007]). Others criticize the U.S. mainstream media's reporting of the war (Control Room [2003], WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception [2004]), U.S. private contractors such as Haliburton (Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers [2006]), and the wrongful imprisonment of civilians by coalition soldiers ( The Prisoner, Or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair [2007]). Less censorious are a number that follow U.S. troops stationed in Iraq (Gunner Palace [2004], Occupation: Dreamland [2005], The War Tapes [2006]), as well as their difficult reentry into civilian life (The Ground Truth [2006]). They are also formally diverse, ranging from the talking head interview format of Uncovered and sarcastic voice-over style of Fahrenheit 9/11 to the cinema verite of Voices of Iraq (2004) and the lyricism of Iraq in Fragments (2006). The most extraordinary are those, such as the latter two, that attempt to capture the experiences and attitudes of Iraqis themselves, and it is in this respect that