Educational Media Reviews Online

The documentary Return to the Land of Wonders is a personal record of Maysoon Pachachi’s journey back to Iraq with her father, Adnan Pachachi, after a thirty five year absence. While he opposed the invasion of Iraq, former Iraqi UN representative, Adnan Pachachi was appointed to the Iraqi Governing Council and chaired the committee responsible for drafting Iraq’s interim constitution. Return to the Land of Wonders chronicles Maysoon Pachachi’s return to Iraq and her brief excursions conducting personal interviews around newly liberated Baghdad. The documentary is a valuable record of post invasion Iraq from an insider’s point of view.

Return to the Land of Wonders is filmed in cinema verité style with the camera acting as the eye of the film’s director. In fact, the director/narrator is never seen in this impressionistic documentary. Although seeming at times to be unorganized, the film’s interviewees are actually carefully chosen for their different backgrounds and viewpoints. What emerges is a troubling picture of a country in the midst of endemic corruption and chaotic disintegration.

Among Maysoon Pachachi’s interviewees are women from a local interest group who are afraid to walk the streets without the hijab (veil) for fear of harassment or worse, a veterinary doctor who was picked up for carrying a pistol in his car and was subsequently interred in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, a former army man who after the disastrous war with Iran only survived by smuggling guns, and a Baghdad bazaar coppersmith who must pay “them” to stay in business. In addition, there are scenes that consist of short political interviews with Adnan Pachachi and other members of the Iraqi Governing Council.

Production values are excellent in Return to the Land of Wonders. Sound is distinctly clear. The film is in English and Arabic with English subtitles. The English subtitles are well placed and easily read. Although for security reasons some of the camera shots are from the inside of moving cars, they are always well focused and well lit. An occasional Baghdad blackout adds to the realism of the interviews. The film’s editing flows smoothly and naturally. The commentary by Maysoon Pachachi is always interesting and appropriate.

Even though this documentary was filmed in 2004, it is still highly relevant to the current situation in Iraq. Perhaps, it is not as comprehensive in covering the lives of ordinary post-invasion Iraqis as Voices of Iraq (2004). Nevertheless, I can still recommend this historic and important video. It gives an accurate view of the persistent problems of post invasion Iraq. Colleges and university libraries will want this video for their international politics, Middle Eastern and contemporary history collections. Recommended.