Baghdad Twist combines photos, archival footage, home movies with an interview with the director’s, Joe Balass, mother. The result is a fascinating look at the Jewish Community in Iraq. The film is very personal but at the same time packs a lot of history into it’s brisk 30 minutes. The film focuses on his mother’s early life up until the time the family fled to Canada in the 1970s.

The interviews do not form a cohesive narrative but this is not a shortcoming. Given the brief running time, Baghdad Twist is not attempting to be an all-inclusive family history. It’s a string of memories brought together by well-chosen artifacts.

I watched Baghdad Twist the same week I watched Blood and Oil (also for the notables committee) and Persepolis which made for a rather interesting combination of views about life in the Middle East during the mid and later parts of the 20th Century.