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An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including films produced in Iraq, Iraq media culture, and moving-image culture regarding Iraq.

During the 1950-70s, film production in Iraq was relatively prolific. Private industry eventually gave way to nationalization under Ba'th Party rule. Not unlike Iraqi cinema of the colonial era, most post-independence Iraqi cinema had the ideological aim of propping up the new regime while supplying light entertainment to the populace. A minor auteur cinema did develop, which produced a small number of critical independent films, but the movement was short-lived. The bulk of quality film production in Iraq occurred during the period of nationalization. This development eventually led to the establishment of a film school in Baghdad. Since the Iran-Iraq War, national film production in Iraq effectively ended. This is not to say that films publicized as 'Iraqi' have not been produced in recent years; on the contrary, a small but noteworthy number of 'Iraqi' films have been made, primarily for international distribution, largely by Iraqi ex-patriots to (and from) Europe and with financial support from private foreign sources. This article discusses two such films, Zaman: The Man from the Reeds (Alwan, 2003), and Ahlaam (al-Daradji, 2006), comparing and contrasting their differing but overlapping strategies, which evidence the suffering of Iraqis living under conditions of war and violence. These strategies at the same time in varying ways distract or distort attention from the real determinants of those conditions. By extension the article draws critical connections between the aims and orientations of new 'Iraqi' cinema and the hasbara cultural initiatives of contemporary Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks the American film industry took a while to react to the Islamist threat at home and abroad. From 2005, however, Hollywood responded to the threat to the homeland and the War on Terror “over there” in Iraq and Afghanistan in a variety of ways. This article examines the nature of that response and whether it evinces, as critics allege, that the American film industry reflects and shapes a capitalist and imperialist agenda. More particularly, by evaluating the cinematic treatment of both the Iraq war and the problem of surveillance, rendition, and homeland security, the analysis explores what this distinctive on-screen genre tells about how the U.S. cultural mainstream has dealt with the challenge global jihadism poses to American values. The analysis suggests that post-9/11 movie making, while sometimes bleak and often clichéd, is cognizant of the gray area morality inherent in fighting the “War on Terror,” and is still thus able to offer some possibilities for sophisticated reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]