After the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the images of the country that circulated in mainstream media were of destruction and violence, and a sensationalised visual landscape that robbed locals of their individuality. Shot on location in Iraq, this compelling fiction debut from seasoned documentary-maker Maysoon Pachachi paints a slice-of-life portrait of a mixed Baghdad neighbourhood during the tumultuous final week of 2006, a year memorably ended by the execution of Saddam Hussein.
Save for a scene where a bargeman fishes out of the water the body of a woman presumably killed for her association with foreign forces, Our River … Our Sky alludes to the horrors of war and sectarian violence in subtle and non-explicit terms. Booming over the ordinary activities of children playing or family meals are the deafening sounds of explosions and harrowing discussions of streets filled with corpses.
