Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a feature film documentary that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult (if not impossible) proposition 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. From 2003-2006, Iraq disintegrated around them while Acrassicauda struggled to stay together and stay alive, always refusing to let their heavy metal dreams die. Their story echoes the unspoken hopes of an entire generation of young Iraqis.
Directors:
- Eddy Moretti holds an Hon. B.A. in English and Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto. In 1996 he received the Norman Jewison Fellowship Award and completed an M.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University. He is currently completing his Ph.D. at NYU. Since 2000 he has served as director of VICE Films, co-authoring original screenplays with Shane Smith for Brad Pitt’s Plan B and their own feature film script for White Lightnin’: The Jesco White Murders. In 2007 Mr. Moretti co-founded the broadband video network VBS.TV (with Spike Jonze as creative director), where he serves as Executive Producer and a correspondent. He has directed television spots for the National Legacy Foundation’s TRUTH anti-smoking campaign, and oversees content production for VIRTUE, the in-house marketing and creative-services agency at VICE. Heavy Metal in Baghdad is Eddy’s feature film directorial debut. Eddy lives in New York City. His parents are from Calabria, Italy.
- Suroosh Alvi was born in Toronto and studied Philosophy at Montreal’s McGill University. After completing his undergrad he worked at a record label in Minneapolis, taught English in Slovakia, and worked on the railroad in Western Canada. In 1994, halfway through his Master’s in Psychology at the University of Toronto, Suroosh returned to Montreal and co-founded VICE Magazine Publishing. Since then, the company has grown into one of the world’s most influential independent media sources with distribution in 22 countries. Additionally, VICE has diversified into book publishing, television, feature films, and music. Suroosh is the co-author of The VICE Guide to Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll, is the head of VICE Records, and is a producer for VBS.TV. He has traveled to Pakistan, Afghanistan, the West Bank, Gaza, Iraq and Beirut, corresponding and producing documentaries. Heavy Metal in Baghdad is Suroosh’s feature film directorial debut. Suroosh lives in New York City. His parents are from Lahore, Pakistan.