Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

This documentary follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda (‘black scorpions’) from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Before war broke out in 2003, the band had only had three appearances, as playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been difficult (if not impossible). But after Saddam’s regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency. The security situation in the country made it difficult to practise, and live appearances were out of the question. When things got really bad, the band received death threats from religious fundamentalists accusing them of worshipping the devil. In the six years since its inception, the band has only played six concerts. After two years of trying to establish contact, the filmmakers finally caught up with Acrassicauda in Baghdad in the summer of 2006. There was still heavy fighting going on in the city, and up to 300 people were being killed in bomb attacks every single day…

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