IRAQ’S INVISIBLE BEAUTY

Duration:
87 min

Type:
Documentary

Year:
2023

Director:
Sahim Omar Kalifa

Producer:
Las Belgas

Country:
Iraq and Kurdistan (Bashur)

Languages:
Arabic

Subtitles:
English

Latif al Ani, born in Baghdad in 1932 is known as the ‘father of Iraqi photography’. His work forms a unique visual archive of Iraq during its heydays from the 1950s to 1970s and are a profound insight into the country, mostly unknown to Westerners and even Iraqi people themselves. When Saddam took power, Al Ani stopped photographing. In 2015, he received the prestigious Prince Claus Award, awarded annually by the Dutch Royal Family. This recognition has given Al Ani new confidence and a desire to reconnect with his work, his country and to travel the world like he did freely so many years ago. Now, many years after the last invasion, he is travelling with his photographs, telling stories and showing the unknown Iraq of those days.

Sahim Omar Kalifa (Iraqi Kurdistan, 1980) started making films when he was seventeen. In 2001, he moved to Belgium, where he attended the Sint-Lukas Brussels University College of Art and Design. He works as a director.