In the Sands of Babylon (Taht remal Babyl)
Hekayat Khaleejiya: Khaleeji Stories
/ Feature Narrative / Iraq, United Kingdom, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates / 2009
In Arabic / English subtitles
Qatar Premiere
Rated: Mature subject matter. Not suitable for minors. Individuals under the age of 18 are not admitted into cinemas.
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Synopsis
The Gulf War, 1991: Ibrahim, an Iraqi soldier, has escaped from Kuwait as the Iraqi Army retreats. Facing the perilous journey home, he must cross the southern desert; a chaotic no-man's land between Saddam's regime and the American offensive. While unrest spreads across the country, Ibrahim is captured by the Republican Guard and cast into Saddam’s infamous prison system, suspected of being a traitor. Twenty-two years later, searching for answers about the past and Ibrahim’s journey, the director of the film encounters three people: A photographer with a painful secret; a farmer who hides his scars to forget the past; and an ex-prisoner whose humanity was savagely taken from him. By unravelling the courageous and tragic secrets of these people, the director seeks to reveal the truth behind Ibrahim's story. Through past and present, fiction and reality, he revisits a fateful climax in the battlefields of Babylon. As Ibrahim’s fate seems written, the Iraqi people are uprising beyond the prison walls, instilling hope in those held captive that the freedom they long for is beckoning.