Editors Note: This post was written by Tim Massett, the film programmer of San Marco Theater. Tim is also a friend of Urban Jacksonville.
Heavy Metal in Baghdad
San Marco Theatre
June 13th & 14th at 11:55pm
In 2003 the folks over at Vice were tipped off about the only metalband in Iraq, Acrassicauda. They became immediately obsessed:
We’re in Baghad to interview the only IRAQI heavy metal band called, ACRASSICAUDA, we have been calling them for three years and we needed to check in on them to see if they are still alive. This is risky, it s dangerous an people would say it s really fucking stupid for us to be doing this but uh… you know HEAVY METAL RULZ!! -Suroosh Alvi
The band formed during the reign of Saddam Hussein and even had the chance to play a few times while the country was still under his thumb. The band (and the people of Iraq) saw some relief after the initial invasion but then soon after the country began to spiral out of control. In 2005 Vice, despite mortars flying overhead and having to jump through an exhausting series of hoops, arranged a show for them at a hotel in Baghdad that went off without a hitch minus a short-lived power outage. Unfortunately that was to be the last show Acrassicauda would ever play in Iraq.
In 2006, through a precarious set of travel arrangements, the filmmakers make itto Baghdad to finally meet the band after all these years. What they find in Iraq is a “gangster’s paradise” — rampant kidnappings and up to 300 murders in a day. The filmmakers first hook up with Firas, the bass player, and discuss the current situation. He sums it up with “They took Ali-Baba and left the 40 thieves.” The band is on hiatus as Marwan has fled to Syria. The meeting arranged by Vice was the first time Firas and Faisal (best friends and bandmates) had seen each other in six months though they live 15 minutes apart.
The film presents a small but incredibly powerful window into the complete chaos the good ol US OF A helped to create through a common story to which every Westerner can relate …rock n roll. It seems to me that the existence of a bandlike Acrassicauda created under Saddam was evidence of the west s real secret weapon to overturn the tyrannical regime that was in place. It may have been a slower process but one that would have avoided the cataclysmic shock and suffering that has befallen the citizens of Iraq.
I don’t know whether or not you’ll come see Heavy Metal in Baghdad because of the time slot. Perhaps scheduling it as a midnight movie isn’t the smartest programming choice I have made but uh…you know HEAVY METAL RULEZ!!
San Marco Theatre
June 13th & 14th
11:55pm
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Joey Marchy
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civilization
