Musings of an Iraqi Patriot
Trailer:click here
Musings of an Iraqi Patriot tells the story of Ahmed Fadaam, an Iraqi sculptor and New York Times reporter who fled Baghdad in 2008 after receiving death threats from Sunni insurgents. The film focuses upon Ahmed's time in Chapel Hill as a visiting professor and his fervent quest to convey to Americans the story of his city, his people, and his country torn apart by war.
Ahmed Fadaam made his living as a university art professor and sculptor until April 2003, when looters ransacked Baghdad University destroying his life's work. After briefly serving as a translator for Dick Gordon of National Public Radio, Fadaam worked as a journalist for Agence France Press and the New York Times. At the height of the sectarian violence, insurgents cited his association with foreign media as reason to extort money and threaten his family. With the help of Dick Gordon and the Society to Protect Journalists, Fadaam was able to secure a position as a visiting professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. In March 2008, he delivered his wife and two young children to his brother's home in Syria, before boarding a plane bound for the United States.