Voices of Iraq - Reception

Reception

• The San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "'Voices of Iraq' is a must-see for anyone still coming to terms with the chaos in Iraq."
• The Los Angeles Times, "By turns heartbreaking, amusing and disturbing, the film features people from different regions, economic classes and religions, recounting stories that are sometimes bleak, sometimes encouraging, but always compelling"
• Variety, "In a season of political documentaries that take one side or the other on the war in Iraq, a film has emerged whose purpose is not to address American politics but the Iraqi people."
• Hollywood Reporter, "Perhaps the sharpest commentary on years of suffering, hope and the wages of war are the children in front of and behind the cameras."
• The Wall Street Journal, "At a time when shrill political diatribes dominate the documentary scene, along comes an authentic work that dares to let the subject speak for itself – literally."
• Dallas Morning News, "An extraordinary, up-to-the-minute tapestry that ranges all over this country of 25 million people and carries the force of revelation."
• The Washington Times: "'Voices of Iraq' is neither partisan nor conservative in any meaningful sense of the word. However, as an attempt to get behind the filter of the main stream media – as a picture of reality unmediated by editorial commentary – it’s a more potent negation of Michael Moore, Craig Unger, Noam Chomsky and Co."
• The New York Times: "If this film cannot claim to represent the political "truth" about the war - what film could?"
• Variety: "As a true or accurate portrait of the real Iraq, however, pic pales in comparison to various in-depth U.S. and European reports, and to Bahman Ghobadi's brilliant new drama on wartime Kurdish refugees, "Turtles Can Fly.""
• The Village Voice: "any film that credits itself as "filmed and directed by the people of Iraq" deserves to be regarded with skepticism."
• Detroit Free Press: "a revealing documentary that depicts the day-to-day hopes and grief of people. Mothers talk about sons gone missing. Interviews are interrupted by bomb explosions. Kids practice in a rock band after listening to black-market Metallica CDs. The movie is disturbing, sometimes funny, and also timely.... Maybe my skepticism comes with the timing- the movie arrives just days before the presidential election."