Ali Bader is possibly one of the most significant novelists to emerge in Iraq in the last two decades. He and renowned filmmakers Ziad Turkey and Hadi Mahood offer their insights into the dichotomy of living between home and exile. In recent years, the three navigated the space between homeland and exile returning to Iraq post 2003 to document encounters with the changes developing in their society.
At a time when Iraq is primarily seen or thought of as a place of war and destruction, The Kinemastik International Short Film Festival of Malta and Offline:Events in partnership with The Heinrich Boell Foundation's Middle East Office, tap the creative community to reframe perceptions of the country and its culture.
The eradication of art and culture in Iraq began decades ago under the weight of the Iran-Iraq war, dictatorship and sanctions. Attacks on artistic and intellectual institutions, both modern and ancient, have severed ties to resources, history and civil society, resulting in a cultural vaccum. To this end, Ali Bader, Ziad Turkey and Hadi Mahood present their unique, personal experiences on their homeland, living in exile and of their work as directors and authors. By providing individual histories, experiences and artistic practice, we explore the questions that emerge regarding what these enormous losses of life, culture and humanity mean for a society as a whole.
PARTICIPANTS
Ali Bader
Was born in Baghdad in 1964. He has a degree from Baghdad University in Western Philosophy and French Literature. He has published three novels, with two more under print. His first, Papa Sartre, (pub. Beirut 2001 and reviewed in Banipal No 17, Summer 2003) was awarded the State Prize for Literature in Baghdad and the Prize of Abulkassim al-Shabbi for the Novel in Tunis. His third, Shata al-Ailah [Winter of the Family] won the Prize of Literary Creativity in the UAE. In 2001, he left Iraq, and now lives in Amman, Jordan.
Ziad Turkey
Ziad Turkey, Director of the web serie HometownBaghdad, began his career during the Iran-Iraq war when he was sent to the frontlines as a soldier and photographer. In 2003, Ziad served as director of photography on "Underexposure," the first uncensored feature film shot in postwar Baghdad. It won Best Film at the Silver Screen Awards at the Singapore International Film Festival. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cinematic Arts from the Fine Arts Academy in Baghdad and continues to exhibit his photography throughout the Middle East. He is currently working on various projects in film and theater and lives in Damascus, Syria.
Hadi Mahood
Filmmaker and Artist, Hadi Mahood studied film direction at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad and at Baghdad University. He made several films in Iraq in the 1980s. Between 1988 and 1990, he worked as an assistant director in the Department of Film Production at Baghdad Television. In 1991, he fled persecution in Iraq and worked with the Iraqi Opposition radio in Saudi Arabia. He also directed a segment of the UN Media Peace Award-winning documentary series, Dying to Leave. Since completing Iraq, My Country Hadi has returned to Samawa, Iraq.
Dina Fakoussa
Dina Fakoussa is Program Manager at the Heinrich Boell Foundation Middle East Office in Beirut, Lebanon. She is among others in charge of the foundations’ Iraq program that supports Iraqi civil society actors working on conflict resolution, women empowerment, equal citizenship, and non-partisanship of the Iraqi media landscape. Before joining the foundation, she worked in Amman, Jordan, as an editor and project manager for the German NGO Media in Cooperation and Transition gGmbH. She was an editor for online publications on Iraq’s political and economic transformations, and oversaw two book productions dealing with transformations of cultural production and media in post-2003 Iraq. Dina Fakoussa holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the American University in Cairo and a Master’s Degree from the Freie Universität Berlin, both in Political Science/International Relations.
