laura.fo

I just finished watching NICE BOMBS, Usama Alshaibi's documentary about returning to Iraq in 2004 after fleeing it in 1980. Two thumbs up. This film is so much more interesting and informative than mainstream news, obviously, but also better than other documentaries that attempt to take the viewer "inside Iraq" by interrogating Iraqis with an endless and exclusive focus over what they think of America. That question comes up here, too, but without the obsessional it's-all-about-us character of most American reporting. The people he talks to are neighbors and family members, all with their own histories, which he portrays and discusses (I can't stress enough how important this is to making them seem like humans instead of soundbites). There's a wide diversity of opinion, so much so that I think even a supporter of the occupation could watch it and see their views reflected, but regardless of your politics, by the time you get to the end, where he interviews two American soldiers — quote: "Freedom's new to them. They don't know how to deal with it" — it's clear how offensively simplistic, xenophobic, and frankly racist even the most optimistic justifications for this war are. Even the word "them" leaves a bad taste in your mouth. "Them"? You mean Usama's aunt, his uncle, his cousin? The ones who spend hours in coffeeshops and at the kitchen table talking politics and dodging rockets? "They" don't get democracy, "don't know how to deal with freedom"? That's it? That's their problem?

It's really powerful. Hopefully coming to a theater near you.