Boy Of Baghdad

Using an embedded Iraqi camera crew, Award Film International has delivered an unprecedented look at life inside post-war Iraq, all from the unique perspective of a precocious twelve-year-old boy.

 

Doe-eyed and adorable Kheer Allah with his mother, father, two brothers and sister live in an empty house where they earn their rent by guarding it and doing repairs for the owner. Their “home” has no furniture and no modern appliances, except for an old television and radio sitting precariously atop an oil drum and stack of used tires.There´s no meat on this family´s table. Home-baked pita bread is the staple in this beyond-poor household. School is out of the question too.Young Kheer Allah must work every day to help his family survive. This daily struggle forms the heart of this remarkable film. Through the wind-swept and war-ravaged streets of his neighborhood, Kheer Allah parlays his abundant charm into a variety of odd jobs that bring litle money, but much satisfaction to his ever-smiling face.

“Boy of Baghdad” is the heartbreaking, and very real, story of a remarkable boy forced to grow up much too quickly, in a dangerous world gone mad with politics and fanaticism. One that has sadly ignored its most vulnerable citizens, its children.