Dreams of Sparrows

Some complain that coverage of the war in Iraq is too negative. Others complain that the countless civilian deaths and deteriorating living conditions are being kept from American eyes. One thing is certain: The media has yet to present much of any picture of Iraq’s citizens. Which makes the release of this documentary, filmed by Hayder Daffar, a night clerk at Baghdad’s Palestine Hotel, all the more remarkable. Working with a team of U.S. and Iraqi producers and filmmakers, Daffar depicts life in post-Saddam, pre-reconstruction Baghdad, offering an unnerving look into the streets of Iraq streets and the minds of its citizens. Lingering on the psychological and social effects this experience is having on Iraq’s children, Dreams makes it clear that the ultimate price the war will exact, in the Middle East and in the U.S., remains to be tabulated. 10 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-627-4430; www.bellmuseum.org