AllMovie

Four teenagers offer a unique perspective on life in Iraq in the midst of war and American occupation in this documentary. In the fall of 2006, filmmakers Ivan O'Mahoney and Laura Winter gave digital video cameras to four students at Baghdad's Tariq bin-Ziad High School for Boys, and while a small camera crew followed kids over the course of an academic year, they were also asked to film themselves and their surroundings as they went through their final year of studies, with the final film combing material from each source. The participants reflect a variety of religious and social viewpoints; Anmar is Catholic, and fears the rise of sectarian gangs in Baghdad, who distrust Christians as much as Sunnis or Shiites, and he's also troubled by the fact he's been having trouble getting in touch with his girl friend. Ali is a Kurd whose family has moved away from the city to a more peaceful Kurdish community, though he misses the excitement of the city. Hayder is a Shia who loves music and wants to pursue a career as a singer and songwriter. And Mohammad is an easygoing boy whose parents are both Sunni and Shia, and dreams of making a life for himself in the Ukraine if he can get the right grades and raise enough money. While The Boys From Baghdad High deals with the violence and chaos that grips Iraq, the film also deals with the universal joys and dilemmas of young men who are coming of age and edging into the larger world. The Boys of Baghdad High was produced for broadcast on the British television network BBC2 and was purchased for American broadcast by HBO.