''Once Upon a Time in Iraq'' is a 2020 British documentary television miniseries directed by James Bluemel and narrated by the British-Iraqi actor

Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his motion capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Gollum in ''The Lo ...

. Composed of five episodes, it features interviews with Iraqi citizens, American military personnel and international journalists about the

Iraqi conflict The Iraqi conflict is a series of violent events that began with the 2003 American-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of Iraq and deposition of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, followed by a series of conflicts including the protracted Iraq War ...

and its effects on the Iraqi people.

Overview

The series chronologically covers the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

, and its subsequent occupation of Iraq (2003–2011); the first phase of the Iraqi insurgency (2003–2006); the Iraqi Civil War (2006–2008); the post-US withdrawal insurgency (2011–2013); and the

War in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. , style="background:#F88" , Coalition of Gulf War, Coalition victory * Kuwait, State of Kuwait resumes self-governance over all Kuwaiti sovereign territory * Esta ...

(2013–2017), an armed conflict between the

Iraqi Armed Forces The Iraqi Armed Forces are the military forces of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. They consist of the Iraqi Army, Ground forces, the Iraqi Army Aviation Command, Army Aviation Command, the Iraqi Air Force, the Iraqi Air Defence Command, Air Defence ...

and its allies against the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

. The first episode was broadcast in the United Kingdom on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

on 13 July 2020. A heavily edited, single-episode, feature-length version was subsequently broadcast in the United States by

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

as part of their '' Frontline'' series on 14 July 2020. The American version omitted the interviews with Rudy Reyes and Nathan Sassaman among others. The American version also completely omits the third episode on the Battle of Fallujah. The series was widely acclaimed in the British press, winning the awards for best documentary and outstanding series at the Rose d'Or festival in December 2020, in addition to being named Best Factual Series at the

2021 British Academy Television Awards The 2021 British Academy Television Awards were held on 6 June 2021, to recognise the excellence in British television of 2020. The nominees were announced along with the nominees for the 2021 British Academy Television Craft Awards on 28 April 20 ...

Interviewees

*Mustafa Abed *Nidhal Abed *Alaa Adel * Ahmed Albasheer *Ahmad al-Matyouti *Ibrahim al-Rawi *Christian Dominguez *

Dexter Filkins Dexter Price Filkins (born May 24, 1961) is an American journalist known primarily for his coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for ''The New York Times''. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for his dispatches from Afghanistan ...

* Ashley Gilbertson *Um Ibrahim *Ali Hussein Kadhim *Sally Mars *Lewis Miller *Susie Miller * Omar Mohammed *Waleed Nesyif *John Nixon (CIA) * Rudy Reyes *

Aliyah Khalaf Saleh Aliyah Khalaf Saleh (Arabic:عالية خلف صالح; born c. 1956), also known as Umm Qusay, is an Iraqi humanitarian who helped over 50 individuals escape persecution by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2014. She is widely regarded ...

*Tahany Saleh * Nathan Sassaman *Sam Williams Note: Several of the above were omitted from the version made for American television.

Episodes

Reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called ''Once Upon a Time in Iraq'' "a gripping, harrowing masterpiece" and praised its content, noting the use of interviews with people who were there, as opposed to prioritising interviews with politicians and analysts. ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' called it a "duty" to watch and praising Bluemel's storytelling.

References

External links

* * {{BAFTA TV Award for Best Factual Series or Strand 2020 British television series debuts 2020 British television series endings 2020s British documentary television series BBC television documentaries about history during the 21st Century British English-language television shows Documentary films about the Iraq War Documentary television series about war News & Documentary Emmy Award–winning programs Works about Fallujah in the Iraq War