By Jason Apuzzo. We wanted Libertas readers to get the chance to see an interesting film that recently became available on-line called Heavy Metal in Baghdad, about the underground music scene in Iraq before and during the recent war. SnagFilms recently acquired this documentary and made it available for free viewing.
Like other recent films No One Knows About Persian Cats or The Taqwacores, Heavy Metal shows what a vital role music is playing in giving young people in the Islamic world an opportunity for self-expression. The film has been very well received (see reviews by The New York Times and New York Post), and won Best Documentary at the 24th Warsaw Film Festival.
Do not expect this to be a ‘political’ film, even though the Iraq War obviously serves as a backdrop. Based on what I’ve seen (I haven’t finished watching the film in its entirety), the film does not contain an especially focused or coherent point of view on the war itself, but remains concerned with the lives and travails of ‘Acrassicauda’ (Latin for ‘Black Scorpion’), Iraq’s only heavy metal band – a band that originally formed in 2001 and who managed to survive (more or less) during and after the war.
Due to death threats from terrorists, the band has only managed to play only 6 concerts in Baghdad, 2 in Syria and one in Turkey – where the band currently resides, as I understand. In the Islamic world, Acrassicauda is literally a band on the run.
If you want to understand what true artistic courage is like – as opposed to what too often passes for it here in the States (hello, Sean Penn) – I recommend that you watch this film. WARNING: the movie is absolutely saturated with four-letter words, and obviously deals with heavy metal music and the lifestyles of those who play it, so only watch this if you’re up for that.
Our best wishes and congratulations to the filmmakers, who literally put their lives at risk to document this band’s story. Glad you guys made it out alive.
Posted on January 7th, 2011 at 2:10pm.
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