The Dreams of Sparrows (2005)
After the capture of Saddam, DAFFAR'S search for the truth takes him through all walks of life in Iraq, into the arts and culture of Baghdad, drawing the viewer into powerful encounters with Iraqi painters, writers and filmmakers. As the film continues, the interviews veer towards the politics of occupation and resistance, concluding with the battle over Falluja and the devastating death of one of the crew members. In somber self interviews made following the production, the filmmakers reveal the dramatic changes in their beliefs caused not only by the situation in Iraq, but also by the process of documenting it.
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"Through the eyes of Iraqis, in "The Dreams of Sparrows," we can finally divine what emerges from the war's digestive tract...From Baghdad's necropolis of slums and nightmarish refugee camps we travel with Daffar to its middle-class apartments, artists' hangouts, mosques and the headquarters of the Communist Party. This is a city of armed men and of stylish women nervously chain-smoking in their apartments; a city where children studying in a private school hold up crayon drawings and say, "Here the tank is aiming at the helicopter, and they exchange shells and rockets." - Tom Bissell, The New York Times Magazine (link)