Three out of Five stars
Running time: 85 mins

A feature which takes its stylistic cues from documentaries, Leaving Baghdad relays the horrors of Saddam Hussein’s regime through the story of an old man fleeing Iraq for the haven of London.

What’s it all about?
Iraqi-born, London-based filmmaker Koutaiba Al Janabi’s debut has an almost documentary style feel to it, as Al Janabi’s camera intimately follows Sadik, a loyal Ba’ath party member who used to be Saddam Hussein’s personal cameraman, as he flees Iraq in the late 1990s, trying to reach his wife in London. Throughout the film Sadik writes letters to his son Samir, a rebel who joined the opposition and who has recently disappeared, in which Sadik reveals his loneliness and his nostalgia for his former life. Gradually though, filmed footage of incidents of torture and abuse begin to contradict his glowing depiction of Saddam and as a penniless Sadik attempts to find people willing to smuggle him into England, he is forced to face up to his past.

The Good
Dedicated to ‘all the victims of Iraq’s dark years,’ Al Janabi’s somber expose of the evils of Saddam Hussein’s rule is filtered through the eyes of a lonely old man tormented by his past. Its most startling feature is the jarring insertion of actual documentary material into this rather personal but fictitious story. Out of nowhere, brutal footage appears of men being tortured and killed by Saddam’s henchmen – early clues that cameraman protagonist Sadik (played by non-professional Sadik Al Attar) is in a state of denial when he describes the tyrant as a warm and generous man.

These scenes make for both shocking and uncomfortable viewing, but where the film really excels is in the grim but real picture it paints of illegal immigration. Indeed, some of the best moments in Leaving Baghdad are those contemplative scenes where Al Janabi’s grainy camerawork simply observes a vulnerable and isolated Sadik wandering the streets of Budapest, sleeping on railway verges or in cramped, anonymous apartment blocks on the city’s fringes, at the mercy of untrustworthy smugglers.

The Bad
As soon as the point of view strays from that of Sadik to show one of Saddam’s henchmen pursuing him, the film’s documentary feel is undermined and Leaving Baghdad begins to falter, as the added action story feels tacked on and unnecessary. Documentary footage used in the film’s dramatic climatic scenes also feels a little too sensational.

Worth Seeing?
Leaving Baghdad has a nicely-paced, quiet story about the hardships of immigration at its heart but the film disappoints when too much drama starts to intrude on this intimate tale.