Abbas Fadhel () is an Iraqi-French

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

, born in

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Based in France since the age of 18 years, he studied cinema at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

until

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

In January 2002, he returned to Iraq with a French passport and filmed a documentary film, ''

Back to Babylon (film) ''Back to Babylon'' (, ) is a documentary film directed by the Iraqi- French film director Abbas Fahdel. Synopsis Back in his home town of Babylon after a long exile, the Iraqi-born director Abbas Fahdel asks himself: "What has become of my ...

'', in which he asked himself: "''What have my childhood friends become? How have their lives changed? What would my life have been like if I hadn't chosen to build my destiny elsewhere?''" The country's dramatic situation is the background of this introspective investigation. One year later, in February 2003, when a new war seems imminent, Abbas Fadhel returned to Iraq with the intention of filming his family and friends, and the superstitious hope of protecting them against the dangers threatening them. When the war started, he returned to France and lost all contact with his family. Two months later, he again returned to Iraq and discovered a country shaken by violence, the nightmare of dictatorship replaced by chaos, but a country where, nonetheless, everything remains possible: the best or the worse. This historical moment is the theme of his second documentary film, ''

We Iraqis ''We Iraqis'' (2004) is a documentary film written and directed by the Iraqi- French film director Abbas Fahdel. The film shows daily life in Baghdad, just before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In this film, Fahdel’s camera shows us Ira ...

''. In 2008, he directed the feature film ''

Dawn of the World ''Dawn of the World'' is a feature film written and directed by the Iraqi-French film director Abbas Fahdel. Starring Venice Film Festival revelation Hafsia Herzi ('' The Secret of the Grain'') and Hiam Abbass ('' The Lemon Tree'', '' The Visito ...

'', a war-drama in which he gives an unexpected account of the multiple impacts of the Gulf Wars and how they have dramatically damaged an area known to be the geographic location of the biblical

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...

. In 2015, his new film ''

Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) ''Homeland: Iraq Year Zero'' is a 2015 documentary film written and directed by the Iraqi-French film director Abbas Fahdel. Synopsis Chronicles of everyday life in Iraq before and after the U.S. invasion. Reception Awards * Sesterce d'Or ( ...

'', a monumental documentary of 334 minutes, is awarded at

Visions du réel Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

- Nyon International Film Festival.

Filmography

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

: ''

Back to Babylon ''Back to Babylon'' is the first album by the band Tormé and was released in 1985. The cover was designed by Lisa Valder. It was re-issued on CD by Metal Blade Records in 1989 with "Love, Guns And Money" added. In 2004 it was re-issued again ...

'' *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

: ''

'' *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

: ''

'' *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

: '' Homeland: Iraq Year Zero'' *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

: ''Yara'' *2022: ''Tales of the Purple House''

Short films

*''Things in the shadow'' *''Weegee's World'' *''Sunday at a suburban café''

Awards

* Sesterce d'Or (Best Feature Film Award - International Competition), Festival

, 2015, for ''

''. * Doc Alliance Selection Award,

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

, 2015, for ''

''. * White Goose Award (Best Feature Film Award - International Competition),

DMZ International Documentary Film Festival DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (), also known as DMZ Docs, is a South Korean film festival for documentary films jointly presented by Gyeonggi Province, Paju and Goyang. Launched in 2009, it is held annually for seven days in Sept ...

, 2015, for ''

''. * Award of Excellence (International Competition), and Citizens' Prize) at

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan ( ). It was first held in October 1989, which makes it one of the longest- running documentary film festivals in the world ...

, 2015, for ''

''. * Best Film award,

Gulf Film Festival A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of salt water that ar ...

, 2009, for ''

''. * Audience Award and NETPAC Award,

Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema The Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema () is an annual special-interest film festival focusing on the cinemas of Asia. The festival is held annually in Vesoul, France. It was created in 1995 by Martine and Jean-Marc Thérouanne who ...

, 2009, for ''

''. * Best Film award, 20th Fameck Arab Film Festival, 2009, for ''

''. * Great Prize of the Jury, Rabat International Film Festival, 2009, for ''

''. *Great Prize for the best scriptwriter (Grand Prix du Meilleur Scénariste, SOPADIN), for ''

''. * Best Screenplay Award (Trophée du Premier Scénario,

Centre National de la Cinématographie Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

), for ''

''. * Best Screenplay Award, 9th Beirut International Film Festival, 2009, for ''

''. * Prize of the Jury, 15th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival, Milano, Italy, 2005, for ''

''. * The Shield of the Ministry of Culture, Iraq, 2010. * Honorary Diploma of the Ministry of Culture, Iraq, 2010.

References

External links

*
Abbas Fahdel's Official Website

Interview with Abbas Fahdel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahdel, Abbas University of Paris alumni Iraqi film directors Iraqi documentary filmmakers Iraqi emigrants to France Iraqi screenwriters Iraqi documentary film directors French documentary film directors French people of Iraqi descent People from Hillah Writers from Baghdad French male screenwriters French film critics Living people 21st-century French artists 21st-century Iraqi writers 21st-century French non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century French screenwriters

Filmography

Short films

Awards

See also

References

External links