Ten years after our trip to Iraq to document the effects of the war on Usama Alshaibi’s family, we are releasing the Director’s Cut of our award-winning film Nice Bombs, originally released in 2006.
Added to the directors cut are interviews with women who were left out of the original cut, adding a strong female voice to the film. Also added is footage of a family living in a bombed out elementary school, and lots of more personal and intimate footage of Usama’s family and their day-to-day lives.
In Nice Bombs filmmaker Usama Alshaibi returns to Baghdad to reunite with his family after nearly 24 years. This documentary navigates through his unique relationship to an Iraq that is much different than the country of his childhood. Usama captures the conflicting reactions to the conditions of life in Baghdad. Through a wide range of opinions and experiences he provides a broad panorama of voices long neglected under Saddam’s regime. His cousin Tareef enters the room upon hearing an explosion. “It’s a bomb. A Nice Bomb,” he explains. The phrase is indicative of his family’s nonchalance about their situation. As one young boy put it, “We’re Iraqis. It’s normal.” With humor and resilience Nice Bombs explores Usama’s dual role as both Iraqi and American.
The Director’s Cut is ow available for streaming rental or download on Amazon.com: