International premiere of ‘In The Sands Of Babylon’ A powerful tale that echo’s the current violence, suffering and genocide of the Iraqi people at the hands of ISIS.

Human Film’s ‘In The Sands of Babylon’ (Book tickets here), written and directed by multi-award winning Iraqi filmmaker, Mohamed Al-Daradji, has been selected for the prestigious Raindance Film Festival, which will play host to the films UK and European premiere. The festival previously screened the Iraqi helmer’s film ‘Son of Babylon’ in 2010, resulting in a British Independent Film Award.

The film delivers a compelling and important story, focusing on a previously overlooked chapter in Iraqi and world history, but one that highlights parallels with the current situation in Iraq. Raindance will, no doubt, be the perfect platform to showcase the film and kick start a string of international screenings.

Raindance’s Lina Skaisgiryte summed up the film beautifully, stating; “This film is shocking, but is also an important piece of heritage which honestly documents this tragic event that caused so much pain to the locals. It raises questions about the aim of our lives, when they can be taken away so easily. Such issues as the loss of humanity and worship of brutality are also discussed. But ‘In the Sands of Babylon’ has a more important message: nothing can be stronger than a human spirit, a wish to survive and keep going.

The film has already made a huge impact at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, where it prompted a standing ovation and a “thunderous applause”, as well as being presented with the award for Best Arab Feature Film.

The UK premiere is this Sunday, 28th September 2014, 03.40pm, with producer Q&A, followed by a secondary screening on Thursday 2nd October at 04.00pm.

 ‘In The Sands of Babylon’ is a hybrid tale set against the backdrop of the closing days of the Gulf War. Ibrahim, an Iraqi soldier, has escaped from Kuwait as the Iraqi army retreats. Facing the perilous journey home, he must cross the southern desert; a chaotic no-man’s-land between Saddam’s Regime and the American intervention. Whilst unrest spreads across the country, Ibrahim is captured by the republican guard and cast into Saddam’s infamous prisons, suspected of being a traitor.

2013: In search of answers about the past, the Director of the film confronts three survivors of the uprising. A photographer with a painful secret, a farmer who hides his scars to forget, and an ex-prisoner who’s humanity was savagely taken from him.

By unraveling the courageous and tragic secrets of these survivors, the Director seeks to reveal the truth behind Ibrahim’s journey. Through the past and the present, fiction and realty, he revisits a fateful climax in the killing fields of Babylon.

images courtesy of Human Film