James Longley’s outstanding documentary feature Iraq in Fragments - currently screening at the ICA - has been nominated in the Best Documentary category at this year’s Academy Awards. The film is one of five titles nominated for the Best Documentary award. Other nominated films in the category include: Deliver Us From Evil; An Inconvenient Truth; Jesus Camp; and, My Country, My Country.

Iraq in Fragments is a unique trilogy of intimate, passionately-felt portraits of the war-torn country: A fatherless 11-year-old is apprenticed to the domineering owner of a Baghdad garage; Sadr followers in two Shiite cities rally for regional elections while enforcing Islamic law at the point of a gun; a family of Kurdish farmers welcomes the US presence, which has allowed them a measure of freedom previously denied.  American director James Longley spent over 2 years filming in Iraq and this stunningly photographed film presents the country through the eyes of those who live there - the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. Iraq in Fragments has been described by previous Best Documentary recipient Michael Moore as “a stunningly beautiful film ... What this movie shows, you will never see on the evening news."

Winner of Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Editing awards in the 2006 Sundance Film Festival documentary competition, Iraq in Fragments was also awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Most recently the film has won the Distinguished Feature Documentary Award at the International Documentary Association (IDA) awards and was named as one the Top 5 Documentaries of the Year at the National Board of Review awards.

The 79^th Academy Awards will be held at the Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles, on Sunday 25^th February 2006. Iraq in Fragments was released by ICA films last Friday, 19^th January and will play at the ICA until 18^th February.

 Some UK press reactions to Iraq In Fragments:

“One of the most important films of the year … essential viewing. ****” The Times

“Handsomely shot … it should be required viewing at the White House and in every place where people think the world is a simple division between Them and Us. ****” Financial Times

“In a series of stunningly filmed sequences, Longley and his camera seek out the real lives outside the frame of conventional TV news, and he succeeds in creating both compelling journalism and superb images … a superbly made film … ****” The Guardian

“This is a rare glimpse of everyday Iraq, away from the headlines and the political fall-out. *****” London Lite

"Highly recommended; a beautifully shot, fascinating and informative portrait ... a searing vision of this historical miasma." Time Out London