My Home—Your War, and: Salata Baladi: An Egyptian Salad, and: Three Times Divorced, and: Arusi Persian Wedding (review)

My Home—Your War

This is an inspirational documentary that was made in the city of Baghdad over a three-year time period—before, during, and after the U.S. invasion. It is a simple film that provides detailed insight on the Iraq War. What is unique to this documentary is that the observations and analysis of the U.S. invasion of Iraq are being seen and told by an ordinary Iraqi Muslim woman, teacher, and translator, Layla Hassan, and not CNN or U.S. media conglomerates that give the "other" side of the story. Every story has two sides to it. Audaciously, Hassan provides us with an insider's vision of the terrors of war—a vision that is lacking in today's media and scholarship. Through interviews with Hassan and her family, as well as pulsating scenes of Baghdad and its people, Layla is able to show audiences how the average Iraqi has been victimized and is a silent, helpless observer of the war. Additionally, Layla, as an insider to the events, provides her perceptions and understanding of the Iraqi government, the U.S. invasion, and the future of Iraq.

Hassan discusses how, when U.S. soldiers first arrived, there was a feeling of hope and freedom. As time passed, however, she sensed a feeling of annihilation. In this documentary, she further explains how this war has and continues to silence women, as well as suppressing their rights, because of the rise in Islamic fundamentalism. The social order is threatened and there is sheer chaos in Baghdad; Islamic fundamentalism embraces the city and people. Hassan provides examples of her own loved ones—her son and sister, both of whom have adopted fundamentalist norms and values. She speaks of how her son has chosen militancy, and how her sister, who formerly was quite liberal, has become conservative in her ways. Hassan also speaks about her own feelings and how there is a prevalent sense of alienation and wanting to flee to another country.

Overall, this documentary demonstrates that the Iraq War, seen through Hassan's eyes, is not progressive, but destructive. According to her, Iraqis' thoughts and behaviors are being changed for the worst, and that Saddam Hussein's secular vision is being diminished completely. My Home—Your War demonstrates how the U.S. invasion abandoned democracy and liberated Iraq in every wrong way possible.

Salata Baladi: An Egyptian Salad

This is a real-life home-video documentary by Nadia Kamel about the diverse and multifaceted home(s) seen in Egyptian cultures, as well as the cultural clashes that are part of that mix. What instigated the need for making this video was an imam's Eid sermon, which basically stated that diversity was not possible—namely, that Muslims should "awaken to defend Islam against its enemies who seek to erase it from the face of the Earth." Kamel's very young nephew Nabeel listens to such discourse, which the filmmaker considers heartbreaking for her and the future generation of Egyptians. Therefore, she created this documentary in response to this statement, to let her nephew and his peers know how much more diverse the state of Egypt once was.

Kamel, as well as her mother Naila, describes and engages in a conversation that reveals family stories that sometimes are quite painful to hear. Both Kamel and her mother feel that it is important to make known to Nabeel what his family roots are, and the...