Skip to content

HIDING SADDAM HUSSEIN

Genre
Documentary
Running time
96 minutes
Year
2023
Language
Arabic
Subtitle
English
Country
Norway and Iraq
Director
Halkawt Mustafa
Bio
Producer
Janne Hjeltnes, Halkawt Mustafa, Anders Hereid
Cast
Alaa Namuq Jasim Al-Doori
Scriptwriter
Halkawt Mustafa
Eighteen years ago, the invading US forces were searching Iraq for its deposed president, Saddam Hussein, who had seemingly disappeared into thin air. He was finally discovered in the town of Al-Dawr, living in a bunker his chauffeur and bodyguard dug between the date trees in his orchard. Alaa Namiq, now 50, hid Saddam for a staggering 235 days before the Americans tracked him down in 2003, executing him three years later. Halkawt Mustafa persuaded Namiq to tell his story for the first time in this startling documentary, which took 10 years to make and was necessarily shrouded in so much secrecy that even the crew did not know the real subject of the film they were making.

Other movies

FRONT ROW

Director: Merzak Allouache

Zhola Bouderbala and her five children wake up at dawn on a hot day and prepare to spend their first summer’s day at the beach. It is imperative to get there early, in order to get a spot in “the front row”, with an uninterrupted view of the beautiful sea. As the first to arrive, the family settles at the water’s edge; an idyllic day beckons. Then, when another family arrives, there is an unexpected disaster. Merzak Allouache, whose earlier film Omar Gatlato marked a turning point in Algerian cinema, gives us characters with wit, zest for life and an and endearing innocence. His ongoing exploration of contemporary Algeria, in all its charm and complexity, confirms his status as a cinematic pioneer.

NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE

Director: Ricardo Curtis

When a meteor crashes into Colepepper Zoo, it releases a virus that turns infected animals into slavering zombies. The few remaining unaffected must band together to escape the virus, find a cure and - most importantly - defeat the Bunny King, a mad mutant beast who wants to spread the virus beyond the zoo to animals everywhere. Young wolf Gracie teams up with mountain lion Dan to find and warn her pack; Xavier, the movie-obsessed lemur; Frida, the fiery capybara; ostrich Ash and the untrustworthy monkey Felix make up the rest of the squabbling, motley crew. A colourful tale with echoes of the recent global pandemic, the Zoopocalypse is a treat for adult animation buffs as much as children.