‘Return to the Land of Wonders - Maysoon Pachachi’

In February 2004, Maysoon Pachachi went home to Baghdad for the first time in 35 years. Filming continuously for 5 weeks, she talked to all sorts of people about aspirations and fears for the future, difficulties of the present and burdens of the past. At the centre of the film is also the director’s 80-year-old father, who is returning to head the committee responsible for drafting Iraq's temporary constitution and Bill of Rights. The film moves continually between these two spheres: the formal political process and daily life ‘out on the street’.

Maysoon Pachachi is a London-based filmmaker of Iraqi origin. As a director, she works independently through her production company, Oxymoron Films, and makes documentaries and feature films in, and about, Middle East. In 2022, she released Our River… Our Sky, which is her first fiction feature film.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A (in English) with director Maysoon Pachachi, moderated by Amélie Van Elmbt (director).