My Country, My Country

Colour, DIGIBETA
USA, 2006, 90 min
Section: One World Presents the Sundance Documentary Fund

Synopsis

Laura Poitras’s intimate documentary charts the changing fortunes of Dr. Riyadh, father of six, a Baghdad medical doctor and Sunni political candidate, during the six months prior to the 2005 election in Iraq. With a supporting cast that includes the doctor’s family, his patients, the US military, UN representatives and private security contractors, the film gives a behind-the-scenes account of the election, called by one US official “one of the best shows in the world”. It also provides a timely insight into the agonizing predicament of a divided people under occupation.

About the director

Laura Poitras (b. 1964, Boston, Massachusetts) took a Media Studies course at the New School in NYC. Since then she has been working as a documentary filmmaker, producer and editor. She currently lives in New York. Poitras received the prestigious Peabody Award for her previous documentary Flag Wars (2003), which she co-directed, produced and filmed. Filmography: Exact Fantasy (1996), Living the Legacy (1998), O’ say can you see…? (2004), Flag Wars (2003), My Country, My Country (2006).