Conversation, Screening

My Country, My Country follows the agonizing predicament and gradual descent of one man caught in the tragic contradictions of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and its project to “spread democracy” in the Middle East. Director Laura Poitras follows events leading up to the January 2005 Iraqi elections in a dramatic story that unfolds through the eyes of Dr. Riyadh, a medical doctor, devout Sunni Muslim, father of six, and Sunni political candidate.

“The definitive film about the U.S. occupation of Iraq…. It is indispensable, heartbreaking, and ferociously wise.” – The Village Voice

Participants
Laura Poitras, filmmaker My Country, My Country
Peter Davis, filmmaker and Artist-in-Residence, The Department of Media Studies and Film, The New School

Laura Poitras studied filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute and the Media Studies and Film Program at The New School. She is the director, cinematographer, and producer of My Country, My Country. She was co-director, cinematographer, and producer of Flag Wars (2003), which received a Peabody Award and was nominated for both an Emmy and an Independent Spirit Award.

Best known for Hearts and Minds (1975), an Academy Award-winning documentary on the Vietnam War, Peter Davis has had a long and distinguished career as a journalist and filmmaker unafraid to court controversy and tackle American politics in its many dimensions. Familiar to many readers today for his ongoing coverage of the Iraq war in The Nation, Davis has, over the years, contributed articles to such diverse publications as Esquire magazine, The New York Times, and the Boston Globe. Davis’ groundbreaking work in television journalism and documentary filmmaking include such highly acclaimed series as Middletown and The Selling of the Pentagon.

Presented by The New School’s Department of Media Studies and Film in association with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics.