My Country, My Country

USA 2006 / 90min. Arabic, English, Kurdish with English subtitles.
Director Laura Poitras / Producer Laura Poitras, Jocelyn Glatzer

Working alone in Iraq over the eight months leading up to the January 2005 elections, director Poitras guides us on an unforgettable trip into the heart of war-ravaged Iraq.

Her protagonist is Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi medical doctor, father of six and Sunni political candidate. An outspoken critic of the US occupation, he is equally passionate about building democracy in Iraq, arguing that Sunni participation in the elections is essential. Yet all around him he sees only chaos, as his waiting room fills every day with patients suffering the physical and mental effects of ever-increasing violence.

Dramatically interwoven into the personal journey of Dr. Riyadh is the landscape of the US military occupation, with Australian private security contractors, American journalists and the UN officials who orchestrate the elections. Unfolding like a narrative drama, My Country, My Country follows the agonizing predicament and gradual descent of one man caught in the tragic consequences of the US occupation.

His story is accompanied by a moving soundtrack and an original score of traditional Arab music by world-renowned singer–composer Kadhum Al Sahir. Working alone in Iraq over eight months, Poitras creates an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Iraqis living under US occupation.

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