Amal's Garden

Amal and Mustafa have shared a long life together in northern Iraq. When Amal decides to finally renovate their home after a decade of war, Mustafa retreats to the garden. An intimate story of tenderness amidst ever-shifting conditions.

Funding Initiative
Diversity Development Fund
Director/Producer

Nadia Shihab

Nadia Shihab is a filmmaker and musician based in Oakland/San Francisco whose work has screened in festivals nationally and internationally and has been supported by the IFP Documentary Lab, Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, ITVS, Pacific Pioneer Fund, BAVC Mediamaker Fellowship, Djerassi Residency and the San Francisco Film Society FilmHouse Show more Residency. Show less

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The Film

Amal and Mustafa are an ethnic Turkmen couple who have shared a long life together in northern Iraq. When Amal decides to finally renovate their home after a decade of war, 85-year old Mustafa retreats to the musical wilderness of the garden, where he encounters the curious gaze of his grandniece and her camera. A lyrical and intimate documentary on companionship, memory and new beginnings, Amal's Garden is the hopeful portrait of one couple moving forward in a new Iraq; where as one world is disappearing, another is being born.

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