Ahlaam

Baghdad 2003. Confusion, uncertainty, and death engulf the bombed out ruins of a psychiatric asylum. Voyeuristically, we move between the past and the present of the lives of the Iraqis caught up in the maelstrom and entangled in the chaos of American ‘Shock and Awe’.

Ahlaam is a bewildered young woman, confined to the asylum after witnessing the violent arrest of her fiancée on their wedding day… deeply hurt, she lives a confined existence in a state of delusion. Brutally damaged at the hands of the regime, Ahlaam is left with little hope, only a dream…

Dr. Medhi, a hard working idealist, exiled to work at the institution despite his many talents, longs for a free Iraq, where the human quest for truth and goodness will triumph over the brutality he witnesses… but will Medhi’s spirit survive the devastation and his father’s political past?

Ali, a patient and former soldier, once a proudly optimistic man eager to serve his country, is now a shell-shocked shadow of his former self, traumatised by the American bombing of his platoon. Ali’s fearlessness brought about by his insanity in the war zone may be the only hope the hospital has as he roams the terrorised, gun ridden streets, looking for surviving patients. Ali’s patriotism may save others, but will he save himself?