Mirrors of Diaspora

Directed by Kasim Abid

On the 15th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, ‘Mirrors of Diaspora’ explores themes of exile, creativity, identity and war told through the lives of seven Iraqi artists living outside the country of their birth for close to half a century. The artists featured in this documentary belong to a group known as ‘Iraqi Artists in Exile’. Filmed over three decades, this ambitious project explores their challenges, failures and successes, both as artists and in their private lives: from the time they graduated from art school in the 1970s, working as street artists in the piazzas of Rome and Florence, to becoming well-known. The central question the film poses is: what are the consequences of spending most of one’s life in exile? At a time of unprecedented global migration when barely a day passes without a tragic story played out in the international media, ‘Mirrors of Diaspora’ contributes to greater understanding of one of the defining issues of our time.