Our River... Our Sky

Badgad, late December 2006, three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq. It is a time of intense religious violence, night curfews and similar restrictions brought about by the ongoing occupation of the country. Sara (Darina Al Joundi), a single writer, is the heart of her neighboring community somewhere in Baghdad: there is Kamal, who was a prisoner of war in Iran and is trying to start over. His pregnant wife Mona, on the other hand, cannot forget her children from her previous marriage. Mona's mother Nermeen, whose son has disappeared, also lives here. And there is Sara's depressed friend Dijla, who has no luck with men and is cheered up by Sara. But reality cannot be ignored: Sabiha, a Christian friend of Sara's, is threatened by religious fanatics and goes into exile. The driver of Sara's nine-year-old daughter Reema's school bus is shot dead. Her neighbor Nabil is killed in a bomb attack on a café. And so Sara, like many of her relatives, friends and neighbors, is faced with the question of whether she should leave Iraq. On a boat trip on the Tigris with her daughter, Sara makes her decision... “A vague everyday fear hovers over everything. Maysoon Pachachi tells her little stories in a calm tone that is surprisingly unagitated considering the situation. She watches the people searching for orientation, and you know that they will not be able to formulate a clear goal within the plot. To this day, Iraq has not found its balance, even though it has largely disappeared from the news. By making the private public, Pachachi has made a film that is as emotionally as it is politically effective. Iraq as a film country is a blank spot for most moviegoers. Little is known about financing options and censorship. Maysoon Pachachi looks at her homeland from exile. She lives, works and teaches in the UK and campaigns for women's rights in many ways. This explains the strong focus on women in her film, as women are the ones who suffer the most in a society that is dominated by men. And these women are often unable to go into exile, they are tied down, financially and emotionally, unfree in their decisions.” (Ulrich Sonnenschein, at: epd-film.de)