Take Me to the Cinema

We follow the journey of former soldier Nassif, who fled the war in Iraq by hiding in dark cinemas. During this time, he used to watch his favorite film, “Papillon” (1973), starring Steve McQueen. Nowadays, he is looking for this film among the Iraqi cinemas’ ruins. The search for this lost film copy in the old and obsolete cinemas becomes the sole purpose of Nassif and his primary motivation to leave his house. “Take me to the Cinema” allows us to discover Baghdad through Nassif’s eyes as he takes us to streets that contrast with his silent and quiet world. A lot has changed in today’s Iraq. The street where cinema theaters were is now a market that sells military uniforms. It is crowded with young men, fitting military shirts and shoes. The quest for “Papillon” becomes the quest of character, who does not want to acknowledge the transformations of his city, and who wants to cling on to its luminous past through the light of cinema and his inner world.

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Albaqer Jaafar

Albaqer Jaafar

Director

Akram Sadoon

Akram Sadoon

Editor

Albaqer Jaafar

Albaqer Jaafar

Producer

Safie Eddeen Mahmoud

Producer

Rasha Gawdat

Producer

Tamer Ashry

Tamer Ashry

Producer

Albaqer Jaafar

Albaqer Jaafar

Cinematography

Kararr Naser

Cinematography

Mohanad Hassan Al Sudany

Cinematography

Saif Eldin

Cinematography

Ahmed alzaidi

Cinematography

Haider Husseini

Cinematography

Layth Daeir

Cinematography

Muslim Habeeb

Sound Recordist

Haider Abdul Hussein

Production Manager

Mohamed Mamdouh

Editor

Kareem Al-Nady

Colorist

Tamer El Said

Tamer El Said

Post Production Consulting

Ahmad elsawy

Music

Ahmed Ali

Post Production Supervisor

Safa Najaf

Thanks

Raed Andoni

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Rasha Salti

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Sara Ishaq

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Zeina Sfeir

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Ali Hammoud Al-Hassan

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Mohammed Darwish

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Ayman El Amen

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Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez

Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez

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Saif Athab

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Mustafa Al-Lamy

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Mohammad Atia

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Abdulla Alturky

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Mustafa Abdulla

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Roza Kurdo

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Warith Kwaish

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Omeed Khalid

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Ali Aslan

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Musa Al Khafour

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Raghad Kasim

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Amaar Abaas

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Emad Alsharaa

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Sajjad Abbas

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Yasir Kareem

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Ali Thamer

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Abdul Razzaq Hussain

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Qasim Rabie

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Alaa Kahtan

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Ahmed Salah

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Ruba Abusaleh

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Andrea Malouf

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Stephanie Speck

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Laith Zaied

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Ziad Kalthoum

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Zaid Mahdi

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Ola Alsheikh

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Nour Ezzedine

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Hind Mohammed

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Dina Bataineh

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Shatha Bataineh

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Nadia Al-Soufi

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Diala Alhindawi

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Dima Yassine

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Bashar Talib

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Nour Akiki

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Bahaa Satar

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Lujain Jo

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Fadi Tabbal

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Shamal Sabri

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Lane Haddad

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Mohammed Sherwani

Mohammed Sherwani

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Huda Al-Kadhimi

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Ahmad Abd

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Ali Altaaliqani

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Muhannad Hussain

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Murtaza Mhaws

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Mohammed Muhsin

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Kaka Khadir

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kaka karukh

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Kaka Muhamad

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Rania Stephan

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Michèle Tyan

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Sabine Sidawi

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Temara Raed

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Mustafa Darwish

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Daoud Darwish

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Antoine Khalifa

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Riham Assi

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Myriam Sassine

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Jessica Khoury

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Rana Eid

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Jacques Comets

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Mila Aung-Thwin

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Peter Kerekeš

Peter Kerekeš

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Karim Aitouna

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Matthieu Darras

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Laurien ten Houten

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Ahmed Nouh

Finance

Hesham AbdelRazek

Editorial Production Assistant

Shawk Ayman

Translator