Dan Gabriel

Director's comment: In July 2017, the Iraqi government declared the liberation of Mosul and the military defeat of ISIS. But as scene after scene in our film shows, this victory came at an enormous cost, with tens of thousands of military casualties, millions of displaced persons, and billions of dollars’ worth of damage to the physical infrastructure of Mosul and northern Iraq. The only thing worse than winning this battle would have been to lose it. However, the underlying reason for the fall of Mosul to ISIS in 2014 was deep sectarian conflict between the majority Shiites - and the minority Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others. In order to win Mosul back from ISIS, Iraqis followed the old adage—the enemy of my enemy is my friend. After being routed from Mosul in 2014, the Iraqi army realized it had to cooperate with the Shiite militias if it was going to have any chance of retaking the city. Over and over again, we heard the mantras that “sectarianism is dead”, and “we are all Iraqis now”. But with the long memories of Mosul, sectarian rivalry and mistrust lie just under the surface. The Iraqi people wonder who will rebuild Mosul, what will happen to the displaced families, and how the victors will settle scores with the large numbers of ISIS sympathizers that remain in the region. They also worry about how sectarian differences in Iraq are being exploited by neighbors like Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others for their own geo-political purposes.