Return to the Land of Wonders

(88 mins) Not long after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, filmmaker Maysoon Pachachi returns to her home city of Baghdad after 35 years. She accompanies her father, 80-year-old Adnan Pachachi, who is returning to head the committee responsible for drafting Iraq’s temporary constitution and Bill of Rights. We follow this tortuous process, with its arguments over wording changes demanded by US leaders in Washington and compromises made to satisfy Iraqi sectarian interests. Moving between the political sphere and everyday life on the streets, Return to the Land of Wonders offers a unique glimpse into the resilience of the Iraqi people as they struggle to sustain their lives without succumbing to despair and defeat.

In Arabic with English subtitles.