The Liberace of Baghdad
Synopsis
Holed up in a heavily fortified Baghdad hotel, the pianist Samir Peter and film-maker Sean McAllister try to survive the 'peace' of post-war Iraq.
Samir, once Iraq's most famous pianist, now plays in a half-empty hotel bar to contractors, mercenaries and besieged journalists. In his heyday he described himself as the 'Liberace of Baghdad' but today he sleeps in a bricked up hotel room, too afraid to cross town to his seven-bedroomed mansion. His string of western girlfriends has led to his wife and two of his kids leaving for the States. But now Samir has a visa to live in America too, to find fame and fortune there in what he calls his 'one last adventure in life'. But Sahar, his pro-Saddam daughter, hates America for what it has done to her country. She refuses to go and Samir is set to leave alone. Over 8 months of filming the violence escalates out of control, kidnapping is rife and Samir’s neighbour is murdered on her doorstep. Will Samir now sacrifice his American dream for the sake of his family left in lawless Iraq?
Details
- Year
- 2005
- Type of film
- Features
- Running Time
- 74 mins
- Format
- DigiBeta
- Director
- Sean McAllister
- Producer
- Mette Heida, Mette Hoffman Meyer, Nick Fraser
- Co-Producer
- Mette Heida, Mette Hoffman Meyer, Nick Fraser
- Editor
- Ollie Huddleston
- Director of Photography
- Sean McAllister
- Sound
- Sean McAllister
- Music
- Samir Peter
- Principal Cast
- Samir Peter
Genre
Production status
Complete
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Last updated 7th September 2006
