The Iraqi documentary film is still simple in its use as an important tool for telling the Iraqi story. We have not narrated many moments of our lives and our modern history, unlike documentary filmmakers in neighboring Arab and other countries.
There are thousands of moments in modern Iraqi history that still need to be shaped in a documentary way. From the 1920s until today, Iraq has gone through many political, social, and economic changes, starting from the form of the state, its system, and the ruling authority. Iraq was under the British, then went through the royal experience, moved to the republic, was ruled by Abdul Karim Qasim and Saddam Hussein, until Iraq once again fell under occupation  but this time by the Americans  and we ended up today in a very complicated era called “the time of ISIS”!

With all those changes and events, there are thousands of stories waiting to be documented and replayed. Therefore, there must be a bold and quick step to develop this art in Iraq, because it is still in its infancy. The successful experiences are very few, and when you look closely at the names of the crews of those successful experiences, you will discover that half of the team is not Iraqi!

And when you observe and track the channels specialized in documentary films, whether global or Arab, as well as many documentary libraries on YouTube in particular and the internet in general, you will see that what was said above is true. There are many Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Tunisian, and Palestinian films, and few Iraqi ones. A brief search for films that talk about biographies, for example, will show that there is an absence of the Iraqi personality  the characters that left their mark in Mesopotamia and were celebrated globally  but their images are absent from the strip of documentary cinema!

There are some good attempts that we find here and there from independent producers and some companies, but they are still very few compared to the Arab and global documentary market, and have been limited to participation in festivals without being broadcast to the public in cinemas or through television screens.

As for the many local channels, there are indeed many films, but they lack professionalism, whether in terms of screenplay or cinematography. They still do not rise to international or Arab standards of promotion and are made in a commercial way closer to a news report than to a documentary film!

The Iraqi Media Network recently launched a channel called Al-Iraqiya Documentary, but those following the channel still see that the work is in its infancy, relying on old documentaries produced abroad.

So, what should be done? Should we continue in this way? Certainly not. Today, there is a great opportunity for all filmmakers to work hard in digging out stories — small and large, new and old to show them to ourselves and to the world. In addition, the Iraqi filmmaker must restore the world’s trust in the Iraqi product. We all have to rise with the great transformations happening in the world of documentary filmmaking, in terms of narrative style and also the visual and sound technologies used in production. We must abandon the traditional vision  and this will not come except through daily watching of global works, trying to imitate them, and then moving toward innovation and adding new imprints in this field.

Some time ago, a Dutch journalist came to Iraq and stayed for a month collecting and filming stories. When she returned to her country, she told a friend of mine that she had gathered material that would make her live for many months from the financial return it would bring her. So, there are thousands of stories here that we should have discovered and presented instead of the Dutch journalist!

Another important matter is that the Ministry of Culture, through its coordination with many security bodies and others, should try to facilitate the work of filmmakers in Iraq. The Iraqi filmmaker and producer still face difficulties in filming due to many obstacles and restrictions during production being prevented from filming in certain locations or facing a lack of cooperation. Today in Iraq, we also lack the organization of regular and multiple festivals, even small ones, dedicated to documentary films, which would encourage many creators to produce their films and become a door for discussion, exchange of experiences and opinions, and a practical workshop to elevate this art that belongs to cinema!

Ali Omar – Documentary Filmmaker