credits: Iraq in Fragments

James Longley filmed his gorgeous 3-part documentary opus throughout 2003-05 in southern, central and northern Iraq, directly following the US invasion until he could no longer safely work in the country.

Longley shot all his footage on a Panasonic DVX-100 and DVX-100A; the sound was recorded entirely in-camera.

The colors are what struck me most as I watched the trailer: sunset at a machine shop, gold-strewn streets, green & red banners, crowds of the white-robbed faithful approaching a column of black smoke…(color correction by Modern Digital in Seattle).

credits: Iraq in Fragments

credits: Iraq in Fragments

credits: Iraq in Fragments

Longley combines 3 separate narratives to tell his story - some of the criticism complains that none of the 3 parts are fully formed - but I wonder (without having seen the film) if the visual tide needs a complete narrative, if the idea of “Iraq in Fragments” would not be hampered by 3 “satisfying” mini-stories.

Trying to gather the footage for this film (Longley won the Nestor Almendros Award for Courage in Filmmaking) should be considered part of the process; the colors & images we see on the screen tell as much about Longley the Filmmaker as they do about the Iraqis. As the documentarian we cannot leave him out of the narrative thread.

credits: Iraq in Fragments

credits: Iraq in Fragments

credits: Iraq in Fragments

While we may be inundated with political documentaries at the moment, Iraq in Fragments looks more like visual gold coins heaped in cinema’s tithe basket, a scrolling recollection of the world as it was several years ago.

If filming a state of existence is political then I don’t know too many apolitical films.