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Reel World: Blood of My Brother: A Story of Death in Iraq
War documentary highlights familial loss
By Lindsay Wilson
lwilso55@mscd.edu

Photo courtesy of Storyteller Film Blood of My Brother: A Story of Death in Iraq Not rated 84 minutes Opened Sept. 29

Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq began more than three years ago, it is estimated that more than 45,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. Andrew Berends’ documentary Blood of My Brother: A Story of Death in Iraq poignantly and effectively reveals the war’s human cost.

The film is neither anti-American nor anti-Bush. It simply presents the realities of living in a war zone through the experiences of one Iraqi teenager and the unflinching eye of Berends’ camera. It is documentary filmmaking at its best.

Nineteen-year-old Ibrahim has just lost his brother Ra’ad, a portrait photographer and shop owner. Ra’ad was acting as a volunteer, guarding an ancient mosque in Baghdad, when he was shot and killed by American soldiers. He was unarmed.

Ibrahim is left to plan his brother’s funeral and to take his place as head of the household. As Ibrahim struggles with the loss and the new responsibilities forced on him, he also struggles with frustration and the desire to avenge his brother’s death.

“Americans sleep comfortably in their beds. There are tanks and planes all around us. What is this? This isn’t life,” Ibrahim cries.

While Berends primarily focuses on Ibrahim and his family, he also includes heart-wrenching scenes revealing the other human tragedies of the Iraq war.

Blood of My Brother does an admirable job of showing the viewer the unimaginable reality of living in a war zone, but it doesn’t exactly lend itself to clarity. There are many scenes that place the viewer in the middle of the action without explaining its context, leaving one feeling lost and confused. It does little to explain the complexities of the conflict to the uninformed viewer.

Still, this is a film that effectively shows a side of the Iraq war that Americans should see. Blood of My Brother does an excellent job of giving the viewer a sense of the madness that war manifests.