This documentary takes us to the landlocked mountains of Northern Iraq to investigate the new democracy that is flourishing in Kurdistan. According to some sources, including Human Rights Watch, in 1988 Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons killed over 5000 Kurds and today congenital abnormality rates are 4-5 times higher than post atomic populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Still the Kurds have rebuilt 80% of their villages and Iraqi Kurdistan is undergoing a mini boom. Western style shopping malls are springing up and university students have independent newspapers and Internet access. In 1992 the Kurds held elections, formed a parliament, and see themselves as a model for a democratic Iraq. However, the society they have built is incredibly fragile. Saddam Hussein has 200,000 troops stationed nearby; also the Jund al-Islam, part of the Al Quaida network, presents a new threat. Security depends on the US and UK maintaining no fly zones, but is that enough? For more information on Iraqi Kurdistan, visit the Human Rights Watch site.

Available from Journeyman Pictures