Anyone laboring under the notion that the U.S. military occupation of Iraq has been a tremendous success needs to put 52 minutes aside and watch Australian filmmaker Kylie Grey's extraordinary made-for-Australian-TV documentary, which illustrates the tragic effects of the occupation from the street level view of a middle-class Baghdad family. Filmed over a period from pre-invasion 2003 through 2006, My Home—Your War focuses on Baghdad University professor Layla Hassan and her family, including her pharmacist husband, her Britney Spears-worshipping teenage son, her free-spirited younger sister, and various aunts. We watch the family undergo a torrent of emotions, ranging from fear of the invasion, to giddiness over the new freedoms after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, to growing desperation regarding the violence under U.S. military rule, and finally to a numbing acceptance of the fact that the situation has hopelessly deteriorated. Layla's son begins stockpiling weapons and speaks of working with a militia to kill the Americans, while her sister dons the conservative clothing demanded by the Islamic theocratic leaders who begin to fill the sociopolitical void. Unable to emigrate because no passport-issuing entity has been created by the Americans, Layla finds herself trapped in her own country. After three years under American rule, a weary Layla offers this simple message to the people of the United States: “Please don't forget that we are human beings and not insects.” Within the fast expanding world of Iraq-based documentaries, My Home—Your War stands out for offering Iraqis the opportunity to tell their story. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)
My Home—Your War
(2006) 52 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. DVD or VHS: $89: public libraries; $295: colleges & universities. Women Make Movies. PPR. Volume 23, Issue 4
My Home—Your War
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