''Once Upon a Time in Iraq'' is a 2020 British documentary television miniseries, directed by

James Bluemel James Bluemel is a television documentary filmmaker. Career The first programme he directed was the three-part documentary ''The Romanians are Coming'', screened on Channel 4 between 17 February and 3 March 2015. Bluemel visited Baia Mare, a town ...

and narrated by British-Iraqi

Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Goll ...

. Composed of five episodes, it features interviews with

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 ...

i citizens, as well as American military personnel and international journalists about the Iraqi conflict and its effects on the Iraqi people.

Overview

The series chronologically covers the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

, and its subsequent

occupation of Iraq Occupation of Iraq or Iraq occupation may refer to: * Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011) (occupation by American, British and Italian forces) * Mandatory Iraq (Iraq under British Administration, 1921–1932) * Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014) ...

(2003–2011); the first phase of the Iraqi insurgency (2003–2006); the Iraqi Civil War (2006–2008); the post-US withdrawal insurgency (2011–2013); and the

War in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...

(2013–2017), an armed conflict between the

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was known as the Royal Iraqi Army up until the coup ...

and its allies against the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

. The first episode was broadcast in the United Kingdom on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

on 13 July 2020. A heavily edited, single-episode, feature-length version was subsequently broadcast in the United States by

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

as part of their ''

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

'' series on 14 July 2020. The American version omitted the interviews with Rudy Reyes and Nathan Sassaman among others. The American version also completely omits the third episode on the Battle of Fallujah. The series was widely acclaimed in the British press, winning the awards for best documentary and outstanding series at the

Rose d'Or The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakesi ...

festival in December 2020, in addition to being named Best Factual Series at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards.

Interviewees

* Mustafa Abed * Nidhal Abed * Alaa Adel *

Ahmed Albasheer Ahmed Albasheer (Arabic: أحمد البشير; born 17 October 1984) is an Iraqi comedian, journalist, and director, best known as the creator and host of the weekly political satire show ''Albasheer Show''. He was named one of the twenty most in ...

* Ahmad al-Matyouti * Ibrahim al-Rawi * Christian Dominguez *

Dexter Filkins Dexter Price Filkins (born May 24, 1961) is an American journalist known primarily for his coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for ''The New York Times''. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for his dispatches from Afghanista ...

* Ashley Gilbertson * Um Ibrahim * Ali Hussein Kadhim * Sally Mars * Lewis Miller * Susie Miller *

Omar Mohammed Omar Mohammed ( ar, عمر بن محمد الموصلي) is a historian and citizen journalist from Mosul, Iraq, who documented life under ISIL through his blog ''Mosul Eye''. Early life and education Mohammed was born and raised in Mosul. He g ...

* Waleed Nesyif * John Nixon (CIA) * Rudy Reyes *

Aliyah Khalaf Saleh Aliyah Khalaf Saleh (Arabic:عالية خلف صالح; born c. 1956), also known as Umm Qusay, is an Iraqi humanitarian who helped over 50 individuals escape persecution by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2014. She is widely regarded ...

* Tahany Saleh * Nathan Sassaman * Sam Williams Note: Several of the above were omitted from the version made for American television.

Episodes

Reception

''Once Upon a Time in Iraq'' received critical acclaim following its release. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called it "a gripping, harrowing masterpiece" and praised its content, noting the use of interviews with people who were there, as opposed to prioritising interviews with politicians and analysts. ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' similarly gave it a rave review, calling it a "duty" to watch and praising Bluemel's storytelling.

References

External links

* * {{BAFTA TV Award for Best Factual Series or Strand 2020 British television series debuts 2020 British television series endings 2020s British documentary television series Documentary television series about war BBC television documentaries about history during the 21st Century English-language television shows