Directing
As the archaeologist Yousef returns to Baghdad after years abroad, he soon finds himself embroiled in trouble after he kills the husband of his neighbor, Rahma, in self-defense. As Yousef and Rahma hide the body, they receive a threat from someone who has a video of the crime.
A seemingly normal car journey crosses from present reality into a recurring nightmare as Hamoudi, a young victim of war, relives his traumatic experiences of the Baghdad Blackwater shootings.
2006, Baghdad is ravaged by sectarian violence. Haifa Street is the epicenter of the conflict. Ahmed gets dropped off there by a taxi on his way to his beloved Suad's home to ask for her hand for marriage, he gets shot by Salam, a sniper who's living his own personal hell on a rooftop above.
Disguised as an ISIS fighter, a young woman emerges from the trunk of a car. She is one of 3000 Yazidi women kidnapped from Mosul by the Islamic State in 2014 and sold as sex slaves. Now she is on the run, trying to find her way between ruins and corpses. Major hostilities seem to be over, but the situation remains dangerous. Single shots can be heard, along with detonations and radioed instructions – her persecutors are still on her heels.
The talented Hamoudi is an 11-year-old boy with a passion for soccer and an ultimate dream to one day reach the level of his idol Lionel Messi. The day Hamoudi is caught in a horrific suicide attempt, he wakes up severely injured in a hospital. As his parents struggle to keep the family safe, Hamoudi is determined to fight for his shattered dream.
Laith, a 22 year old male wakes up on his birthday in Mosul, Iraq, only to have problems with his boyfriend, Mohanad a 27 year old male. Mohanad believes that Laith is cheating on him with a girl and a fight erupts as Mohanad storms out of the apartment only to rush back as he sees ISIS have taken over the city and raid the apartment block.
On the anniversary of BLACK WEDNESDAY and his fifth birthday a young boy is taken to visit his father's grave. Distracted by his toy car the little boy wanders off and becomes lost in the labyrinth of graves where he meets an unconventional new friend who will mysteriously lead him back to his mum.
