SON OF BABYLON

Year: 2010
UK: Dogwoof Pictures
Cast: Yassir Talib, Shazada Hussein
Director: Mohamed Al-Daradji
Countries: Iraq./ UK / The Netherlands
Language: Kurdish / Arabic (English subtitles)
UK: 90 mins
UK Certificate: 12A contains images of mass graves and distressing scenes of grief
UK Release Date: 11 February 2011 (Limited Release)


Synopsis

Winner - Amnesty International Film Prize - Berlin IFF 2010
Winner - Peace Award - Berlin IFF 2010
Winner of Best International Feature Raindance Film Festival

A haunting, unforgettable journey across the breathtaking Middle Eastern landscape, SON OF BABYLON is the second feature from Mohamed Al-Daradji following his impressive debut AHLAAM in 2007. A powerful and urgent new voice in Iraqi filmmaking, Al-Daradji was recently named Filmmaker of the year by Variety.

Northern Iraq 2003. Saddam Hussein has fallen.

A journey through Iraq, a troubled land where no one knows what lies ahead. On hearing the news that prisoners of war have been found alive in the South, curious young boy Ahmed (Yassir Talib)and his obstinate grandmother embark set out to uncover the fate of the boy's missing father, one of the many soldiers who never came home.

From the mountains of Kurdistan to the sands of Babylon, the pair hitch rides with strangers and cross paths with fellow pilgrims on an all too similar quest. As a grandmother struggles to accept an awful truth, Ahmed retraces the footsteps of a father he never knew. This is a journey that will not only connect them to the past, but will determine their lives forever.