dartmouth films

Remember Baghdad is the untold story of Iraq, an unmissable insight into how the country developed from a completely new perspective – through the eyes of the Jews who lived there for 2,600 years until only a generation ago.

“Jews, Muslims, Christians – we were all Iraqis – it was paradise.” On the hundredth anniversary of the British invasion in 1917, Remember Baghdad is the untold story of Iraq, an unmissable insight into how the country developed from a completely new perspective – through the eyes of the Jews who lived there for 2,600 years until only a generation ago. With vivid home movies and archive news footage, eight characters tell their remarkable stories, of fun that was had, and the fear that followed as Iraq laid foundations for decades of unrest. Amid the country’s instability today we follow one Iraqi Jew on a journey home, back to Baghdad. The story begins in a happy period for the Jews. In 1917 a third of the citizens of Baghdad are Jewish. The descendants of the scholars who wrote the Babylonian Talmud are now westernising fast. In 1947 the first Miss Baghdad is Jewish. Jews are parliamentarians. They attend fancy parties and picnics on the Tigris with the elite. But after the creation of Israel they are no longer safe. A mass exodus takes place, though many thousands stay behind, loyal to the country they love. Finally, after 1967, Saddam Hussein mobilises a mass movement against them and they must flee. Our characters tell their story with poignant regret and bitter clarity.