Screening: The Boys From Baghdad High FULLY BOOKED

The Boys From Baghdad High is the story of four Iraqi boys, all friends, coming of age in the most dangerous city on earth – Baghdad. It was filmed by the students themselves, offering an insight into ordinary Iraqi lives rarely seen. One boy is Kurdish, one Christian, one Shia and one mixed Sunni and Shia. As they enter their last year in school, can their friendship survive the sectarian violence tearing their city apart?

School is a safe haven in some ways for the boys but the strain of daily life does little to promote an atmosphere of academic study. Rather they want to do the usual that adolescent boys are interested in – text a girlfriend, play computer games or learn the words to a rap song.

At the same time, with their families, they face an important decision – whether to stay in Baghdad with all the attendant risks or flee to safer areas as so many other Iraqis have done. The boys must also look to the future and to the world beyond their school.

Special Commendation in the Grierson Sheffield Youth Jury Competition

Length: 90 mins
Director: Ivan O’Mahoney and Laura Winter
Producer: Alan Hayling and Alex Cooke
Produced for BBC This World, co-produced by HBO and ARTE