Ali Al Iraqi | Ali The Iraqi

(Drama, 22’)

Ali The Iraqi tracks the experiences of Nasser, a former Iraqi military officer, and his teenage son, Ali, who have just emigrated from Iraq to the United States. Torn between assimilation and rejection of his new environment, and between respecting and renouncing his father’s generation, Ali struggles with deciding what it means to be an Iraqi, an Arab and a Muslim in America as Iraq spirals further into violence.

Arabic with English subtitles

Select Festivals and Screenings

Abu Dhabi Film Festival – formerly The Middle East International Film Festival (UAE, 2008)
Arab Film Festival Rotterdam (Netherlands, 2009)
Reel Iraq Film Festival (United Kingdom, 2009)
Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival (India, 2009)
Goethe-Institut Irakische Filmtage / Iraq Film Days. (Syria and Jordan, 2009)

Crew

Written and directed by
Vatche Boulghourjian

Produced by
Shannon McCoy-Cohn

Assistant directors
Andinh Ha
Kai Orion

Cinematography and editing by

Vatche Boulghourjian

Additional camera operators
Jae Choe
Amos Ezra Katz
John Reilly

Grips
Yael Ingber-Mayorek
Jennifer Li

Make-up artists
Aerielle Toelke
Nathalie Young

Fight choreographer
T.J. Glenn

Produced in association with
New York University
Tisch School of the Arts
Kanbar Institute of Film & Television
Graduate Film Division

Filming location
New York, USA

Cast

Hussein Al-Muhaissen – Ali
Saamir Ali – Nasser
Haidar Al-Saadi – Khaled, Cousin
Muhammad Sayyid Ahmed – Sheikh Mansur
Hussein Hassan – Hassan
Jalall Zilka – Abed
Abdul Boussi – Saleh
Ramzi Kassem – Tareq
Samir Khalidy – Marwan
Ramez Baddour – Rami
Taha Ali – Ali’s Friend
Mohammad Ahmed – Praying boy
Ahmed Ahmed – Praying boy
Merky Bakhat – Praying boy
Tanzeel Kayani – Praying boy
Robert Tyminski – Restaurant Client
William Powell Clazzarus – Restaurant Client
Erica M. Davis – Restaurant Client
Kurtis Miller – Restaurant Client
Orville McCarter – Restaurant Client
Ellen Kramer – Restaurant Client
Ariel Lai – Restaurant Client
Leila Gaudin – Restaurant Client