Marooned in Iraq

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Marooned in Iraq ★★ The Songsof My Homeland; Avazhaye Sarzamine Madariyam2002

Set between 1989 and 1991, this is a road movie about family and survival. Victimized by Suddam Hussein, Iraqi Kurds fled towards the Iranian border and an uncertain future in refugee camps. One such family is led by the aged Mirza (Ebrahimi), a locally famous singer who has summoned his two sons, Barat (Mohammadi) and Audeh (Rashtiani), to accompany him back to Iraq in order to find his ex-wife, Hanareh (Ghobadi), whom he has learned is in trouble and needs him. Armed robbers steal all their possessions on their journey and they are forced to walk, eventually coming to other camps of displaced people (one has orphaned children, other contains only women). Folk music and comic bits help break up the admittedly bleak story. Kurdish with subtitles. 97m/C VHS, DVD . IA Shahab Ebrahimi, Faeq Mohammadi, Alahmorad Rashtiani, Iran Ghobadi; D: Bahman Ghobadi; W: Bahman Ghobadi; C: Saed Nikzat, Shahriar Asadi; M: Arsalan Komkar.