Duraid Munajim is not new to film making, he has directed films and music videos and has been internationally recognized for his accomplishments. However, ‘Exile & Empire: Twenty short stories on Iraq’ seems to be the first project for Duraid Munajim that touches issues of a more personal nature. Duraid began this film with the purpose of following the stories of Iraqi exiles. However, with the events of the war on Iraq, the film took a sudden turn inside war ravaged Iraq. In this essay-driven film, Duraid succeeds in bringing together twenty short stories inside Iraq. ‘Exile & Empire’ is an ingenious and artistic effort to bring together images and stories inside Iraq to an audience that is in need of a visually stimulating experience to generate needed questions and debate. From Canada to Baghdad, Duraid takes viewers on a choppy voyage through the streets and tribulations of Baghdad. shakomakoNET was invited to the gala screening of ‘Exile & Empire’ at the National Film Board in Toronto and spoke one on one to the Iraqi-Canadian Filmmaker.

shakomakonet: Firstly, we would like to know more about Duraid the person and not the filmmaker.
Duraid: I was born in the town of Ahmadi in Kuwait. Grew up there. Kind of the Kuwaiti equivalent of the suburbs. Went to high school in Kuwait, college in Miami and Montreal. Play way too much chess.

shakomakonet: How did your background, affect your transition into a filmmaker?
Duraid: Growing up in a small desert town leaves you a lot of time to think and imagine.

shakomakonet: Tell us about your experiences as an early filmmaker?
Duraid: Well, I pretty much am an early filmmaker. In film school I started off making childish, excessively violent films. Later I branched out into time-lapse, experimental films. “Exile & Empire” is the first attempt at any kind of a ‘real’ documentary.

shakomakonet: Conceptually, what were you envisioning before starting to shoot the film?
Duraid: Something very different. I started off making a film about Iraqi exiles who left due to the sanctions imposed on Iraq. It was in an attempt to highlight the destructiveness of the sanctions that hurt the people while strengthening the regime. After 9/11, the drums of war against Iraq were sounding. I think it was as early as December 2001 when rhetoric against Iraq was becoming overt. Things started changing then.

shakomakonet: Was the final format of the film something that you envisioned early in the process?
Duraid: It was supposed to be one film, five portraits. It evolved into 20 separate films because, in some cases, the films were widely divergent from each other.

shakomakonet: The format is unique and is not a mainstream documentary. Was it an experimental project?
Duraid: I suppose it can be classified as a somewhat experimental project, but some of the short films were very conventional in structure and subject.

shakomakonet: What was your main source of artistic inspiration for the film?
Duraid: There were many. More recently, the works of Stefan Nadelman, and Peter Mettler.

shakomakonet: This is a personal film that deals with your family. How did you feel about being so close to the subjects that you were filming?
Duraid: I guess one of the ideas behind the film was to make it clear who the filmmaker was. I hoped that it would create a sense of humanity, that Iraqis were not just seen as a number or as trigger happy thieves, terrorists and bombers.

shakomakonet: This is a personal journey for you back into Iraq. You went shortly after the war. Being in a war ravaged country, how did that impact your introspective voyage?
Duraid: In ways that I still can’t make sense of.

shakomakonet: Some of the short movies in the film are with you and American Troops. How was that experience?
Duraid: I don’t think most of them knew I was Iraqi. I was just this guy from Canada. We shared similar backgrounds, because of being raised in North America, with respect to music, film, North American attitude and culture.

shakomakonet: What was the level of freedom that you enjoyed while filming with them? Weren’t you detained?
Duraid: Hmmm…

shakomakonet: Some ‘embedded journalists’ have questioned their objectivity because they felt that the troops were protecting their safety. They felt that they were, in essence, cheering for them. Did you feel that?
Duraid: Interesting point. It was different for me, I think, because I felt safer with the local population than with the soldiers. But at the same time, I wouldn’t stick out like Western journalists do; I know the language, etc.

shakomakonet: What was the response from the Iraqis that you filmed?
Duraid: There was plenty of footage of interaction with the local population that I shot. Practically everyone was friendly, and I would not point my camera at someone I would sense may be offended by it. When in doubt, I would ask. In one of the short films, a local Iraqi is interrogated by young soldiers who do not know the language. I ended up from being observer to participant.

shakomakonet: Going into a very political situation, this film isn’t political. How did that happen?
Duraid: As I had mentioned, my interests weren’t necessarily in the political. My desire was to establish a point of view that allowed for an understanding of plurality within the charged political atmosphere the war and its aftermath had created.

shakomakonet: How did you come up with the title of the film?
Duraid: I must admit I sort of stole the title from an article comparing the careers of Fouad Ajami and Edward Said. It was called “Exile and the Empire”.

shakomakonet: Do you feel like you have captured the essence of Baghdad, or at least did you capture what you experienced during your voyage.
Duraid: No. Baghdad is a city of layers – with points of view that are as numerous as they are diverse. One day someone will capture it in all its glory.

shakomakonet: This film is a film about Iraq by a non-Iraqi initiative, not counting yourself and the few others. Was that problematic?
Duraid: Filmmaking is somewhat of a stunted art form in the Iraqi culture. Although Iraqis excel in poetry, writing, music and the performing arts. Hopefully the film culture will develop in this post-Saddam era, especially from within. Already it is starting.

shakomakonet: What else about Iraq inspires you as a filmmaker? Is Iraq a filmmaker’s dream?
Duraid: Iraq is much more than a filmmaker’s dream. It is a country with incredible challenges ahead, with equally incredible potential.

shakomakonet: As a filmmaker, do you feel you have any special or extra responsibilities?
Duraid: I don’t think so. It is up to everyone to use whatever strengths they have to somehow leave a positive legacy behind

shakomakonet: Have you thought about commercially releasing this film?
Duraid: Soon.

shakomakonet: What’s next for Duraid Munajim?
Duraid: So many things are on the horizon, not sure what will come at me first.

Special thanks to Duraid (www.duraid.ca) for giving some of us his busy schedule. Independent Arabic Media and Duraid will be working closely together in the near future to bring you more short films about Iraq and Iraqis worldwide.