Flavors of Iraq

At nine years old, in 1989, Feurat Alani got his first real flavour of Iraq, the country that sent his militant father into exile. Today, many year later, it's his father's Fatiha, a traditional Muslim memorial service to honour the deceased. For Feurat, it's a moment to reflect on his father's political activism and his dream for a flourishing Iraq, but also to unlock memories of his childhood and to retrace the broader story of Iraq - a story that transcends the images spread in Western media. Instead, we see a country of profound cultural wealth, one that has tragically barely known piece since its creation.

Flavors of Iraq, an animated documentary directed by Léonard Cohen in collaboration with Franco-Iraqi journalist Feurat Alani, is a dazzling trip through Iraq's history, from a secular state of great prospects to an ultra-authoritarian cage, an occupied and embargoed nation, and a war-torn land of religious leadership. Alani first chronicled his personal and familial history in over 10.000 tweets, recounting the vivid experiences he had in Iraq as a child. These tweets were adapted into an award-winning book illustrated by Cohen, followed by a web series. Now, the feature film reassembles this material into a highly emotional, non-Westernized look at more than half a century's worth of history, and continues the story by revealing the scars left by the Islamic State.

Cohen and Alani's film offers detailed yet stylized impressions of a vanished homeland. In evocative and fluid animations - interspersed with archival footage, Flavors of Iraq guides us through musings about apricot ice creams, family visits and broken dreams, while also facing the devastations of dictatorship, illegal wars and oppression. What ultimately emerges is a collection of stories - both deeply personal and strikingly universal - that reveal the flavours, perfumes, tastes, and essence of a nation shaped by triumph and tragedy.