Life After the Fall

Eschewing the manic pace and context-free stream of violent images that define many documentaries about the Iraq war, Kasim Abid’s longitudinal documentary Life After the Fall follows the filmmaker’s extended Baghdad family over the course of four years, beginning optimistically with the 2003 downfall of Saddam Hussein’s regime. The family tries its best to go about its regular routine as history unfolds around them, but that becomes increasingly difficult as the war continues and the streets turn chaotic. With each bombing, they worry about the safety of their loved ones. Eventually the de facto civil war claims one of their own: Abid’s youngest brother.