Ahlaam

Baghdad 2003, two days before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Three people are trying to survive amidst the bombed-out ruins and have found temporary refuge in a psychiatric hospital. Through their memories we discover something about their past. The student Ahlaam was just about to get married when she was stunned by the arrest of her fiancé, a soldier. She herself was a victim of rape at the hands of a group of soldiers... Medhi is an idealist, a natural outcome of his role in the medical profession. A specialist accustomed to helping people's suffering, he tries to come to terms with the violence he sees all around him, and to address his father's past ... Ali is a patient at the hospital, a former soldier who desired nothing else but to loyally serve his country. After American bombs destroy his unit, he becomes a traumatised wreck... The feature-length debut by Mohamed Al-Daradji, inspired by real events, which sees the war in Iraq through the eyes of ordinary people. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)