BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Cinema fans in Iraq opened the third Baghdad International Film Festival this week in an attempt to revive the country's movie industry after years of financial and security struggles since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the height of sectarian strife in 2006-07 and the country is trying to rebuild itself. Film fans aspire to revive a time when Indian and Western action movies were popular at Baghdad cinemas, and social clubs also often showed films.
Today, only two cinemas operate in Baghdad and none outside the capital. Before former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was ousted by a U.S.-led invasion in 2003 the country boasted more than 80 cinemas.
At the film festival's opening this week, the reception hall of the National Theater received about three hundred people, mainly Iraqi directors and actors. The hall holds about 1,000 people.
"We are trying to make this a success despite all the obstacles," Taher Alwan, one of the festival's directors, said.
The festival, organized by an NGO, No-Borders Iraqi Cinematographers, has only been held twice before, once in 2005 and once in 2007, because of violence, political strife, and funding constraints.
This week's festival opened with an Algerian film, "A Voyage to Algeria," followed by four Iraqi films, entitled "Smile Again," "Half Lightened," "Feather," and "The Visions."
Attendees grumbled over the poor screen quality. After about 10 minutes, many in the audience began to leave.
"I do not want to judge the festival from the first film shown," Ali al-Someri, an Iraqi director, said. "But I hope today's problems ... will be avoided tomorrow otherwise it would be a scandal."
Thirty-two countries have participated in this year's festival with more than 160 films, including the United States and Germany. The remainder of the films will be broadcast at three locations in Baghdad across the 8-day event.
There were few foreigners at this week's opening despite the international festival tag. Most notable was Moroccan Abdulaziz Bin al-Ghali, who heads a short film festival for the Arab world.
Baghdad's film festival this year operates on a tight budget of $30,000, mainly from European institutes.
"We have something," said Alwan. "It is better than nothing."
(Reporting by Aseel Kami; Editing by Shaimaa Fayed)
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