My Country, My Country

My Country, My Country is a 2006 documentary film about Iraq under U.S. occupation by the filmmaker Laura Poitras.

My Country, My Country
Promotional poster for My Country, My Country
Directed byLaura Poitras
Produced byLaura Poitras
Written byLaura Poitras
Music byKathem Al Saher
Distributed byZeitgeist Films
Release date
  • August 4, 2006 (2006-08-04)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Film

Laura Poitras spent over eight months working on her own and for some time following a US Army Civil Affairs team during the elections in Iraq filming the documentary. The film shows life in Iraq for average Iraqis under U.S. occupation. Poitras focuses primarily on Dr. Riyadh al-Adhadh, an Iraqi medical doctor, father of six and Sunni political candidate.[1]

The film was well received by critics[2] and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[3]

The film had a limited U.S. theatrical release.[2] The PBS program P.O.V. broadcast the film in October 2006.[1]

After completing the film, Poitras claims "Since completing My Country, My Country, I've been placed on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) watch list" and to have been notified by airport security "that my 'threat rating' was the highest the Department of Homeland Security assigns".[4] The film is one of three in a series, with the second being The Oath (2010). The third, Citizenfour (2014), focuses on the NSA's domestic surveillance programs. She is suing the U.S. government over her 40 detentions by US officials.[5]

Reception

Critical response

My Country, My Country has an approval rating of 86% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 36 reviews, and an average rating of 7.09/10. The website's critical consensus states, "This war documentary offers a valuable look at Iraqi life under the U.S. occupation, and finds a compelling central subject in Dr. Riyadh".[6] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]

See also

References

POV 2006 TV Schedule (https://www.pbs.org/pov/mycountry/)

  1. "POV 2006 TV Schedule". pbs.org. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
  2. "My Country, My Country (2006)". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2006-08-06.
  3. "NY Times: My Country, My Country". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  4. "My Country, My Country. Film Synopsis". PBS. Retrieved 2007-05-27. External link in |work= (help)
  5. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150714/05544231629/laura-poitras-sues-us-government-to-find-out-why-she-was-detained-every-time-she-flew.shtml
  6. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_country_my_country
  7. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-country-my-country
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