Farewell Baghdad (2014)

Interesting facts

• Awards: 1 · Nominations: 0. Including: Ophir Award for best feature film

Farewell Baghdad is an Israeli film based on the novel with the same name, by Iraqi-born Jewish writer Eli Amir. The film was directed by Nissim Dayan, who also wrote the screenplay. The idea for the film was conceived by actress Ahuva Keren, and the script was translated by her into Judeo-Arabic. The making of the film was completed in 2013, but the film itself was commercially released in April 2014.

Production

Ahuva Keren, who plays the role of Naima, was the one who conceived the idea of filming the movie in Iraqi Arabic. She also translated the script into the language and was responsible for training the actors who were not fluent in Arabic.

According to the filmmakers, the production took eight years (likely referring to the period from when Ahuva Keren first proposed making a film in Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic until the completion of the production). In June 2012, Moshe Edery stated that Sasson Gabay was set to star in the film.

The filming lasted for thirty consecutive days in the summer of 2012, across various locations in Israel, including Jaffa, the Old City of Jerusalem, Acre, and Nazareth. Extensive editing and sound corrections followed the shoot.

Dudu Tassa, the grandson of Daud al-Kuwaiti, worked on the music for the film's scenes featuring songs by the al-Kuwaiti brothers, Daud and Saleh. The final touches on the soundtrack were done by composer Sharon Farber.

Although the film's production was completed in 2013, it was released in theaters only on 10 April 2014, around Passover, possibly to draw a parallel between the exodus of Iraqi Jews from Baghdad and the biblical Exodus from Egypt. In mid-May 2014, the film began a series of premiere screenings in London, attended by author Eli Amir.

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