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Kilometre Zero takes on war critics
An Iraqi film that takes a jab at European opposition to the US-led invasion is going for the gold at the Cannes film festival - a first in the event's 58-year history.
An Iraqi film that takes a jab at European opposition to the US-led invasion is going for the gold at the Cannes film festival - a first in the event's 58-year history.
Kilometre Zero, which had a press screening last night ahead of its red-carpet premiere today, tackles Saddam Hussein's brutal campaign against Kurds in Iraq and the reaction to his abrupt fall from power.
Iraqi Kurd filmmaker Hiner Saleem tells the story of Ako, a young husband and father forced to join Saddam's army in 1988. He dreams of fleeing the country with his family but his bride Selma cannot abandon her dying father.
The drama turns to farce as Ako scrambles to find a fast way home from the front of the devastating Iran-Iraq war.
An unlikely road movie ensues that finally ends in a Parisian attic apartment with Ako and Selma joyously shouting over the rooftops on April 9, 2003 when they hear that Saddam has finally been toppled along with his iconic statue on Baghdad's Fardus Square.
The irony of the scene happening in France, one of the most strident critics of the US-led war, was not lost on the Cannes audience. Saleem himself has lived in Paris for the past 10 years.
Kilometre Zero is one of 21 pictures vying for the coveted Palme d'Or top prize at the festival, which opened yesterday and runs through May 22. Organisers said it was the first Iraqi film ever to appear in the festival's official selection.
