My Country, My Country

United States 2006

Director Laurie Poitras Writer David Brancaccio Producers William Brangham, Brenda Breslauer, Jocelyn Glatzer, Peter Meryash, Bryan Myers, Laura Poitras Director of Photography Laurie Poitras Art Director Sabina Daley With Dr. Riyadh, Peter Towndrow, Carlos Valenzuela, Cpt. Khris Scarcliff Runtime 90 minutes

DVD, USA 2006: Produced and Distributed by Zeitgeist Films Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Extras 16:9 anamorphic transfer, enhanced for widescreen televisions. “Abu Ghraib Inspection,” 15 minutes of additional footage. Original theatrical trailer. English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired. Production notes and updates.

“We are an occupied country with a puppet government. What do you expect?” These are the words spoken by Dr. Riyadh outside the gates of Abu Ghraib prison months before the 2005 Iraqi elections. It is Riyadh’s mission throughout Laurie Poitras’ film My Country, My Country to change both of these statements that identify modern Iraq.

Dr. Riyadh is a Sunni, a physician, and a politician living in Baghdad where he runs a free medical clinic for anyone who may need his services. During his spare moments, Riyadh visits inmates and attends briefings with the United States military all the while assembling ammunition to further his case for US withdrawal from his country. Riyadh does the majority of talking in My Country, My Country, facilitating the viewer’s sympathy to fall in line with his point of view. Even though Riyadh is anti-occupation at heart, he is not a violent extremist nor does he condone the actions of those who would use violence to secure an Iraq free from occupation forces.

Though Poitras has made a documentary, she frames it as a story which unfolds after Dr. Riyadh’s daughter asks him if he is going to vote in the January elections. We then flash back to June 2004 as Riyadh begins to build his campaign, starting with his patients and neighbors, before moving onto Abu Ghraib where he discusses conditions inside the prison as well as what crimes and other circumstances made these people end up in prison. Sometimes Riyadh speaks with anger, other times with compassion, but his words are always padded with a softness that stems from his reasonable nature. He sees his country as a victim, but does not always see the Americans as villains. This mentality is shown by his willingness to talk to the American soldiers, as well as other senior officials in the hopes of making them understand the fear and anger that Iraqis feel every day. Riyadh spends much of his time coaxing people to be reasonable and hopefully follow his line of thinking. When he is not debating strategy with military officials he is talking to fellow Sunnis and trying to convince them that it is in their best interest to vote. They feel, like him, that the government is corrupt; but they also feel that a free election cannot happen while America is involved.

Poitras does not spend all of her time with Riyadh; she also focuses on the people who are doing their best to make sure this election is free from corruption and open to all the citizens of Iraq. As the viewer we are privy to meetings with United Nations election officials who are providing oversight for the local and national elections in Iraq. We also spend time following private security contractors who are responsible for delivering ballots and other election documents. It is fascinating to see these contractors in light of the recent Blackwater scandal, as they risk their lives to make sure a democratic election takes place. While these contractors are handsomely compensated for their work, they are in constant danger of being attacked by insurgents. Poitras does not portray them as mercenaries but rather brave workers who are trying to do their best.

In her role as director of My Country, My Country Laurie Poitras, of course, commands where our sympathies should fall; but she does not verbally interrupt her images during the course of the film. There is no voice-over narration in the style of Michael Moore. Instead Poitras chooses a much more subtle and muted approach, letting her subjects, images, and choices in editing tell the story. With a scant running time of ninety minutes she cannot give us the whole story on Iraq, nor could she if the film were nine hundred minutes. Rather she has given us a brief window into a broken country, reminding us of the people who are working so hard to fix it.

Terry Hobgood is a former intern for Film International, and a graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington.