The talented Hamoudi lives for soccer, and his biggest dream is to one day be as good as his soccer hero, Messi. When Hamoudi becomes a victim in a horrific suicide bombing, he wakes up in the hospital badly injured. While his parents do everything they can to keep the family safe, Hamoudi fights to achieve his dream after all.
Genre: Drama
Language: Arabic/Kurdish, subtitles: English
When you’re 11 years old and living in Baghdad, even if it’s all-out war, you can’t help but dream. Sometimes you dream of soccer, of Barcelona, of Real Madrid, of becoming the next Lionel Messi. In the town’s beat-up streets, groups of children kick a ball, raise their arms to the sky and shout with joy, undeterred by the decimated buildings around them. As Baghdad’s population survives rather than thrives, and remnants of their pre-war world accumulate with each passing scene, Hamoudi and his friends continue to believe in that little round ball and the life yet to come.
Baghdad Messi is the latest film by award-winning Belgian-Kurdish director Sahim Omar Kalifa (Zagros), based on his personal experiences. The short film of the same name won 60 international awards and was selected for the Academy Awards in 2015.
The SG Student Film Committee recommends this film because it shows a different, more personal side of a conflict that has been the subject of film for many years. It combines all the emotions in a big boiling pot and uses them to great effect. It is a film that you will think about for a long time.
Reviews
“Sahim Omar Kalifa pleads for the preservation of the Iraqi people’s lost dreams, depicting the singular trajectory of a football-crazy little boy who’ll do anything to keep his passion afloat. - Cineuropa
Ticket information
This film will be shown at Filmhuis De Zwarte Doos. Buying a ticket online in advance is mandatory if you want to attend this film. You can buy a ticket by clicking on the black “order” button on this page.
Please note: you can only buy a ticket online; tickets cannot be purchased with cash or bank card at the ticket counter.
For more general information about tickets, refund policies, etc., please click here.
Please be on time
The screening of the film starts at 19:30 sharp (no pre-film movie trailers) and the cinema hall opens at 19:10. We kindly ask you to be at the ticket counter at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the film. This is to ensure the film starts and ends on time.
The Studium Generale film program is selected in collaboration with the Student Film Committee and Natlab.