Qarantina

Qarantina

2010. Iraq. Written and directed by Oday Rasheed. With Asaad Abudel Majeed, Alaa Najem, Hattam Auda. A broken family headed by the patriarch, Salih, lives within the gated courtyard of a dilapidated house in Baghdad. Salih’s pregnant daughter has fallen mute, and only finds solace with Salih’s young second wife, Kerima, and preteen son, Muhanad. To keep the family afloat, Muhanad must work in the street shining shoes and, more ominously, they are forced to take in a sullen and imperious boarder. Rasheed’s brooding second feature captures the beautiful surroundings of modern Baghdad, and finds unexpected sources of resilience in the wake of catastrophe. In Arabic; English subtitles. 90 min.