‘Nostalgia as a weapon against fundamentalism’

In Iraqi Odyssey, film director Samir traces the history of his family from the Iraq of the 1950s to the modern-day country, torn by violence. It is a personal work which also claims to be a weapon against the fundamentalism and sectarianism of the Islamic State. An Iraqi sentimentalist and a Swiss perfectionist, Samir has created his first documentary in 3D. It is 162 minutes of both family and global history, from the Ottoman era to today, told by those close to the director and scattered around the world.  swissinfo.ch: You show Iraq in black-and-white in the 1950s and 1960s, the women dressed in western clothing and clearly emancipated and happy. But you also show today’s Iraq in colour; above all the red of blood, the black of explosions and the veils of the women. The contrast is staggering. Samir: That is the most important thing to notice! I think that all this fundamentalism is a war against women, not against westerners. Men who are not well educated …
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Culture
– SWI swissinfo.ch