Our River… Our Sky

Set in 2006 against the backdrop of intense sectarian war, Our River… Our Sky follows the stories of a small Baghdad community trying to find some semblance of normality and hope despite unpredictable violence, turmoil, and loss.

Sara is a single mother and a novelist. As her daughter Reema sleeps fitfully against the not-so-distant noise of mortars and gunfire, she’s unable to write. Surrounded by trauma and devastation, she scours the internet for news of the city’s death toll, trying to keep track of the attacks. When her closest friend and neighbour, Sabiha, a former actress and a Christian, is forced into exile, Sara begins to fight back and recover a sense of defiance. But as the random killing escalates and gets closer to home, she begins to look for a way out for herself and her daughter…

Sara and her neighbours invite us into their everyday lives as their world fragments and they attempt to renew a fragile sense of hope for a better future. Through the chaos and destruction, the residents never let their ambitions and desires for the future fade. Yet, they can’t help but contemplate leaving Iraq, and are forced to ask a painful question – who does Baghdad really belong to?

(Released with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery.)