Page - 152 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/02

152 | Marie-Therese Mäder www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/2, 149–154 On the one hand, the film depicts religion as the legitimation of power, vi- olence, and oppression. On the other hand, the example of the family Jamal Aldin offers a secularization narrative that starts with the grandfather, a Shi- ite religious scholar, turning away from his religious activity. His decision influ- ences the next generation, who favor politics and education over religion. Af- ter Saddam Hussein comes to power most of the family members leave Iraq and live as secularized and highly educated Iraqi migrants in Auckland, London, Moscow, and Zurich. Iraqi Odyssey (2015) is not only a documentary but also a broader media pro- ject that provides a platform for the performance of collective memory of the Iraqi diaspora. For this purpose the film production established an interactive Web project that enables Iraqi migration to be mediatized through an online timeline.3 Visitors to the site are invited to upload their own Iraqi histories to the timeline covered by the documentary, where they join clips, unused archival material, and footage from the film provided by the production company. In a video message on the Web page, Samir encourages participation: “Share your family histories with us, your photographs and your film footage, and with your own mosaic piece join us in creating a fuller picture of this country. Join the conversation, discover and share the stories of other contributors. Be part of an Iraqi story – written by individuals for individuals.”4 Over 160 minutes the documentary tells impressively how not so long ago Iraq was a secularized Muslim society, a part of the country’s history often ig- nored by western mass media eager to associate Islamic faith with terrorism. But Iraqi Odyssey (2015) is not only a documentary but also an audio-visual source of history. It seeks to participate in the documentation of Iraqi history by Iraqi people themselves who live in diaspora around the globe. The film and the homepage are useful examples of how audio-visual media and the Internet can provide platforms for the collective memory of a group, in this instance for one in which Samir’s personal family story occupies a prominent place. His oc- casionally sentimental undertone tells of better times, when religion was not a protagonist in public life and Iraqi society was cultivated, educated, and mod- ern. The film voices an impressively differentiated critic of fundamentalism in favor of Islamic secularization. Due to its length the film has been shown mainly at film festivals. The DVD (Impulse Home Entertainment, 2016) was released in May 2016 as a shortened version (98 minutes), the director’s cut. The film offers a fruitful case study for contemplation, in the classroom and in other venues that foster in-depth dis- 3 Homepage 2016. 4 Timeline 2016.