Zaradasht Ahmed – Nowhere to Hide #FDEO2017

September 22, 2017

Zaradasht Ahmed - Nowhere to Hide #FDEO2017 fredfilmradio

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PODCAST ¦ Matt Micucci interviews Zaradasht Ahmed, director of Nowhere to Hide, from the 5th Europe Orient Documentary Film Festival.

Director Zaradasht Ahmed talks about his documentary feature film, Nowhere to Hide, screened at the 5th Europe Orient Documentary Film Festival of Tangier in Morocco. The film portrays five years of dramatic change in the country of Iraq after the retreat of the American and Coalition troops, from 2011 to 2016. It does this by featuring prominently footage shot in the midst of the action by Nori Sharif, a male nurse. In Nowhere to Hide, we witness the situation as it goes from one full of joy and excitement for the beginning of a potential reconstruction of the country after U.S. retreat, to one of sadness, disenchantment, violence, and brutality.

Ahmed talks about the process of making the film, as well as his meeting with Nori Sharif, and his idea of training him to document whatever was happening around him. He also tells us that he did not understand how things might develop, and indeed, Nowhere to Hide was itself born out of a project that had to be scrapped after the unexpected American retreat. Among the other things, Zaradesht also discusses the ethical question of documentation and the use of footage shot directly by ordinary people, as well as the fact that Nowhere to Hide tells a story about Iraq that is largely and constantly ignored by the media from other parts of the world.

NOWHERE TO HIDE follows male nurse Nori Sharif through five years of dramatic change, providing unique access into one of the world’s most dangerous and inaccessible areas – the “triangle of death” in central Iraq. Initially filming stories of survivors and the hope of a better future as American and Coalition troops retreat from Iraq.