March 28, 2024

Event Coverage Highlight

Sneak Preview: Letters from Baghdad

Documentary makers Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum will discuss their new film Letters from Baghdad following a sneak preview for OPC members and guests at International House on May 17.

Also joining the panel will be Lamia Al Gailani Werr, a British-Iraqi archaeologist and expert in the establishment of the Iraq Museum; and Lisa Anderson, a specialist on politics in the Middle East and North Africa who was president of The American University of Cairo from 2011-2016. Previously, Anderson was dean of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and director of the university’s Middle East Institute.

The film, which is voiced by Academy Award winning actor Tilda Swinton, debuts June 2. Letters from Baghdad is the story of a true original—Gertrude Bell—sometimes called the “female” Lawrence of Arabia. The film tells the dramatic story of this British spy, explorer and political powerhouse. Bell traveled widely in Arabia before being recruited by British military intelligence during WWI to help draw the borders of Iraq and as a result helped shape the modern Middle East. Many of the ancient sites she visited and photographed have been destroyed by ISIL The film chronicles her extraordinary journey into both the uncharted Arabian desert and the inner sanctum of British colonial power.

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Watch the discussion with filmmakers live: