The last day of the Nederlands Film Festival I visited the closing film “Son of Babylon,” in Arabic and Kurdish with English subtitles, opens a few weeks after Saddam Hussein’s fall in 2003. Following his capture, many Kurds went on journeys to try to find their loved ones who had disappeared during his regime in a genocide that claimed more than 1 million lives. The story opens as 12-year old Ahmed, beautifully played by Yasser Talib, begrudgingly follows his grandmother (played with the perfect balance of stoicism and anguish by Shazda Hussein) from Kurdistan to Nasiriya and beyond in search of Ahmed’s father who went missing in 1991. During their road trip, they encounter all sorts of characters, including a former Baathist soldier who perpetrated atrocities on Kurds. Through his character, the movie explores redemption and, in a way that is touching yet unsentimental, examines the damage done to those committing the horrific crimes as well. Director Mohamed Al-Daradji was part of the audience during the film and closed the night with an amazing touching speech.
http://www.cinema.nl/artikelen/6623251/son-of-babylon-slotfilm-nederlands-film-festival
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