Page - 151 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/02

| 151www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/2, 149–154 the Arab world, Islamic parties come to power. And the people welcome them. And you say you want democracy? Go ahead! Enjoy your meal!” Thematically situated between the two poles of secularization and the radi- calization of Islam, the story of Samir’s grandfather Jamal Aldin tells how he broke with the religious tradition of his family. The sequence is introduced with the intertitle “Family Legend”. The grandfather used to be a religious scholar and belonged to the Achbārīya, a controversial Shiite group. One day on his daily commute by ferry, he threw his turban, the sign of his religious identity, into the river, as he had realized that more and more men were wearing turbans because religious scholars were offered free transport. His descendants offer different interpretations of the grandfather’s story. They agree that their fa- ther and grandfather broke with family tradition in order to renounce religious privilege. Uncle Sabbah underlines that his father strictly forbade his children from wearing either a turban or a military uniform, in order that they not be subjected to either slavery or ideology. Fig. 2: Iraqi Odyssey (Samir, IQ/CH/DE/ AE, 2015), 02:03:18. Fig. 3: Iraqui Odyssey (Samir, IQ/CH/DE/ AE, 2015), 02:30:15.