Filmhuis Cavia is presenting a dedicated documentary programme with the work of British filmmaker Sean McAllister, during the first weekend of May. We're thrilled that he will be present for Q&A's afterwards.

Documentary filmmaker Sean McAllister is much more than a dispassionate fly-on-the-wall observer of other people's lives, there is a fly-in-the-soup (Vérité) approach to his film-making, he becomes involved, he intervenes, he asks the questions which often provoke his subjects (and himself) into insights, thoughts, and realisations which they never knew they had. From his early films Working For The Enemy (1997) and The Minders (1998), The Liberace Of Baghdad (2004) and Japan: A Story Of Love And Hate (2008) to his more recent successes, The Reluctant Revolutionary, BAFTA nominated A Syrian Love Story (2015), and now A Northern Soul (2018) Sean’s work continues to inspire, to surprise and to fascinate audiences.
 

THE LIBERACE OF BAGHDAD
Sean McAllister | 2005 | UK, Iraq | 74' | EN subs

Nine months into the supposed liberation of Iraq, documentary filmmaker Sean McAllister follows Samir Peter, the self proclaimed Liberace of Baghdad. Before the war Samir lived the life of a famous concert pianist, but now he finds himself in a besieged hotel along with mercenaries, contractors, and journalists. Samir is waiting to leave for America, in what Samir calls “his last adventure”. However, his pro-Saddam daughter Sahar refuses to leave on account of what the U.S. has done to her country. As Samir waits for his visa the violence in Baghdad escalates, and Samir is faced with the questions of whether he wants to abandon his family in lawless Iraq to pursue his American Dream.

The director will be present for a Q&A afterwards.