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Carole Mikita ReportingThe story of how Iraqi citizens see the war, "Iraq in Fragments," won several awards in the documentary category of the Sundance Film Festival this weekend. Honored for directing, cinematography and editing, the filmmaker, one reviewer said, "humanized characters and illustrated the textures and tensions in an occupied country..."
War from a personal perspective, told from inside three areas of the country where most journalists cannot go. "Iraq in Fragments" follows citizens who are either displaced by the war, or trying to make life better for their families, or believe they are part of a better future.
Teacher: "Be proud of the new Iraq because we have finished with oppression and tyranny!"
James Longley, Independent Documentary Filmmaker: "I'm following ordinary people in their daily lives, whether they be fighters inside Moqtada al Sadr's militia or whether they're sheep farmers in northern Iraq."
The Kurds live in the north and, says Longley, have always welcomed the Americans, believing our presence will help them.
James Longley: "More independence for their own political aspirations, for their part of the country."
But the majority of Iraqis, he says, wants the U.S. out immediately, even if that move deepens the civil war.
Longley: "But I think that people don't really believe that the United States is helping that situation."
Longley hopes his film opens a new window for American audiences; he hopes it will build understanding of a very important story.
James Longley: "Regardless of what you think about the policy, this is something that very much affects the United States and you have to know about it. In a democracy, you have to be informed."
Even after living among the Iraqis for years, James Longley, says he still cannot say whether the people will ever live together peacefully.
