Abbas Fadhel (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

عباس فاضل) is an Iraqi-French

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

, born in

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Based in France since the age of 18 years, he studied cinema at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

until

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

. In January 2002, he returned to Iraq with a French passport and filmed a documentary film, ''

Back to Babylon (film) ''Back to Babylon'' ( ar, العودة إلى بابل, french: Retour à Babylone) is a documentary film directed by the Iraqi-French film director Abbas Fahdel. Synopsis Back in his home town of Babylon after a long exile, the Iraqi-born dire ...

'', in which he asked himself: "''What have my childhood friends become? How have their lives changed? What would my life have been like if I hadn't chosen to build my destiny elsewhere?''" The country's dramatic situation is the background of this introspective investigation. One year later, in February 2003, when a new war seems imminent, Abbas Fadhel returned to Iraq with the intention of filming his family and friends, and the superstitious hope of protecting them against the dangers threatening them. When the war started, he returned to France and lost all contact with his family. Two months later, he again returned to Iraq and discovered a country shaken by violence, the nightmare of dictatorship replaced by chaos, but a country where, nonetheless, everything remains possible: the best or the worse. This historical moment is the theme of his second documentary film, '' We Iraqis''. In 2008, he directed the feature film ''

Dawn of the World ''Dawn of the World'' is a feature film written and directed by the Iraqi-French film director Abbas Fahdel. Starring Venice Film Festival revelation Hafsia Herzi (''The Secret of the Grain'') and Hiam Abbass ('' The Lemon Tree'', '' The Visitor ...

'', a war-drama in which he gives an unexpected account of the multiple impacts of the Gulf Wars and how they have dramatically damaged an area known to be the geographic location of the biblical

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...

. In 2015, his new film ''

Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) ''Homeland: Iraq Year Zero'' is a 2015 documentary film written and directed by the Iraqi- French film director Abbas Fahdel. Synopsis Chronicles of everyday life in Iraq before and after the U.S. invasion. Awards * Sesterce d'Or (Best Feature ...

'', a monumental documentary of 334 minutes, is awarded at

Visions du réel Visions du Réel (Visions of Reality) is an internationally renowned documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969 as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current na ...

- Nyon International Film Festival.

Filmography

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: ''

Back to Babylon ''Back to Babylon'' is the first album by the band Tormé and was released in 1985. The cover was designed by Lisa Valder. It was re-issued on CD by Metal Blade Records in 1989 with "Love, Guns And Money" added. In 2004 it was re-issued again o ...

'' *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

: '' We Iraqis'' *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: ''

'' *

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

: ''

'' *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: ''

Yara Yara may refer to: People * YARA (girl group), a Filipino girl group * Yara (given name) * Yara (surname), a Japanese surname * Yara (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese pop singer * Yara (footballer) (born 1964), Brazilian footballer Locations * Y ...

'' *2022: ''Tales of the Purple House'' Short films: *''Things in the shadow'' *''Weegee's World'' *''Sunday at a suburban café''

Awards

* Sesterce d'Or (Best Feature Film Award - International Competition), Festival

, 2015, for ''

''. * Doc Alliance Selection Award,

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

, 2015, for ''

''. * White Goose Award (Best Feature Film Award - International Competition),

DMZ International Documentary Film Festival DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (), also known as DMZ Docs, is a South Korean film festival for documentary films jointly presented by Gyeonggi Province, Paju and Goyang Goyang (''Goyang-si''; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in ...

, 2015, for ''

''. * Award of Excellence (International Competition), and Citizens' Prize) at

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan ( ). It was first held in October 1989, which makes it one of the longest running documentary film festivals in the world and ...

, 2015, for ''

''. * Best Film award,

Gulf Film Festival A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...

, 2009, for ''

''. * Audience Award and

NETPAC The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the ins ...

Award,

Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema The Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (French: Festival international des cinémas d'Asie) is an annual special-interest film festival focusing on the cinemas of Asia. The festival is held annually in Vesoul, France. It was create ...

, 2009, for ''

''. * Best Film award, 20th Fameck Arab Film Festival, 2009, for ''

''. * Great Prize of the Jury, Rabat International Film Festival, 2009, for ''

''. *Great Prize for the best scriptwriter (Grand Prix du Meilleur Scénariste, SOPADIN), for ''

''. * Best Screenplay Award (Trophée du Premier Scénario,

Centre National de la Cinématographie Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

), for ''

''. * Best Screenplay Award, 9th

Beirut International Film Festival A growing number of film festivals are held in the Arab world to showcase films from the region as well as international standouts. In addition, institutions and organizations in other parts of the world are increasingly honoring the new generation ...

, 2009, for ''

''. * Prize of the Jury, 15th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival, Milano, Italy, 2005, for '' We Iraqis''. * The Shield of the Ministry of Culture, Iraq, 2010. * Honorary Diploma of the Ministry of Culture, Iraq, 2010.

References

External links

*
Abbas Fahdel's Official Website

Interview with Abbas Fahdel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahdel, Abbas University of Paris alumni Iraqi film directors Iraqi documentary filmmakers Iraqi emigrants to France Iraqi screenwriters Iraqi documentary film directors French documentary film directors French people of Iraqi descent People from Hillah Writers from Baghdad French male screenwriters French screenwriters French film critics Living people French artists 21st-century Iraqi writers 21st-century French non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century French screenwriters

Filmography

Awards

See also

References

External links