Heavy Metal in Baghdad Directed by Eddy Moretti & Suroosh Alvi, 2008

Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a documentary feature film that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda (Latin for a deadly black scorpion native to Iraq) from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to their escape from Iraq. The band members – Firas (bass), Tony (lead guitar), Marwan (drums) and Faisal (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) – were bred on American heavy metal albums, learning to speak English by listening to Slayer, Metallica and Slipknot. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult (if not impossible) proposition, but, after Saddam’s regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency. This is the story of their struggle to play the music that they love… refusing to let their heavy metal dreams die.