Heavy Metal in Baghdad

UPC: 829567049822

Studio: Virgil Films and Entertainment

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:null

Summary: VICE Magazine co-founder Suroosh Alvi and VICE Films head Eddy Moretti embark on a gonzo journey to meet Iraq's only heavy metal band in a freewheeling documentary focusing on youth culture in war-torn Iraq. In the summer of 2005, shortly after Saddam Hussein's brutal rule came to an end, Iraqi heavy metal group Acrassicauda (named after an especially venomous breed of black scorpion) teamed with VICE Magazine to stage a sold out rock concert. Over a year later, VICE co-founder Alvi and filmmaker Moretti travel back to the Middle Eastern country to find out how the war has affected the band. What they find upon arriving for their reunion with Acrassicauda is especially disturbing. These are the images that the network news refuses to run - the story of an entire generation who risk their lives simply by standing in the open, and who are driven from their homeland by bombs and machinegun fire. In order to even practice, the band would have to risk their lives by exposing themselves to both Iraqi snipers and suspicious coalition forces. Then again, after your studio has been bombed into the ground what's the point in rehearsing anyway? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Culture & Society

Awards: Film Presented – Toronto International Film Festival Film Presented – Berlin International Film Festival Film Presented – SXSW Film Presented – Seattle International Film Festival

Features: 45 minute featurette: Heavy Metal in Istanbul - the documentary picks up where Heavy Metal In Baghdad left off
7 additional and deleted scenes: 30 minutes of extra content including extended intervews with the band plus a meeting with the "Iraqi Godfather" in Syria
3 live performances: Acrassicauda live! - Original Acrassicauda songs "Underworld", "King Without a Throne" and "Message From Baghdad" performed in 2006 and 2008
8 page booklet: Including the original Vice magazine article "No War For Heavy Metal"
Movie trailer

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

Format: DVD

Release Date: 06/10/2008

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Alternate Wide Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 84 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Heavy Metal in Baghdad
1. Heavy Metal Rules! [3:07]
2. The Band's Practice Space (November 2003) [3:43]
3. Setting Up a Concert In Baghdad (July 2005) [4:18]
4. The Youth of Iraq [3:49]
5. Acrassicauda Live In Baghdad [4:59]
6. Flying To Baghdad (August 2006) [3:01]
7. Gangster's Paradise [3:00]
8. Meeting Firas [5:17]
9. Death On the Road [2:13]
10. On the Edge of the Tigris River [3:38]
11. Firas and Faisal - The History of Acrassicauda [6:21]
12. The Bombed Out Practice Space [5:30]
13. Damascus, Syria (December 2006) [6:04]
14. Acrassicauda Live In Damascus [3:12]
15. Heavy Metal Refugees [6:43]
16. Tony and Mike [3:55]
17. Recording the Damascus Demos [5:02]
18. Homesick [3:32]
19. Watching the Movie With the Band [4:00]
20. Epilogue and End Credits [2:40]

Cast and Crew: Spike Jonze  Executive Producer 
Eddy Moretti  Director 
Eddy Moretti  Producer 
Suroosh Alvi  Director 
Suroosh Alvi  Producer 
Shane Smith  Executive Producer 
Eddy Moretti  Actor 
Suroosh Alvi  Actor 
Firas al Lateef  Actor 
Faisal Talal  Actor 
Marwan Reyad  Actor 
Tony Aziz  Actor 
Mike  Actor 
Waleed  Actor 
Ahmed  Actor 
Gideon Yago  Actor 

Country: Canada,USA