Suroosh Alvi Movies
Filmmaker Suroosh Alvi had many stories to tell before he stepped behind the camera to become a professional in his field. Having studied philosophy at McGill University, taught English in Slovakia, worked for a record label in Minneapolis, and worked on the railroad in Western Canada, Alvi was busy getting his master's in psychology when he opted for yet another change of pace and moved to Montreal, where he would found and operate VICE Publishing. Over the coming decades, VICE would become one of the world's most prominent voices in independent media, distributing music and print to over 22 nations. In 2008, Alvi tried his hand at a new medium, making his directorial debut with Heavy Metal in Bagdad, a feature-length documentary following Iraqi metal band Acrassicauda on a strange, beautiful, and heartbreaking tour of their war-torn country. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
VICE Magazine co-founder Suroosh Alvi and VICE Films head Eddy Moretti embark on a gonzo journey to meet Iraq's only heavy metal band in a freewheeling documentary focusing on youth culture in war-torn Iraq. In the summer of 2005, shortly after Saddam Hussein's brutal rule came to an end, Iraqi heavy metal group Acrassicauda (named after an especially venomous breed of black scorpion) teamed with VICE Magazine to stage a sold out rock concert. Over a year later, VICE co-founder Alvi and filmmaker Moretti travel back to the Middle Eastern country to find out how the war has affected the band. What they find upon arriving for their reunion with Acrassicauda is especially disturbing. These are the images that the network news refuses to run - the story of an entire generation who risk their lives simply by standing in the open, and who are driven from their homeland by bombs and machinegun fire. In order to even practice, the band would have to risk their lives by exposing themselves to both Iraqi snipers and suspicious coalition forces. Then again, after your studio has been bombed into the ground what's the point in rehearsing anyway? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddy Moretti, Suroosh Alvi, (more)
