Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a documentary feature film that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda (Latin for a deadly black scorpion native to Iraq) from the fall of Saddam Hussein to their escape from Iraq. The band members - Firas (bass), Tony (lead guitar), Marwan (drums) and Faisal (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) - were bred on American heavy metal albums, learning to speak English by listening to Slayer, Metallica, and Slipknot. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult (if not impossible) proposition, but, after Saddam’s regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency.
Directors Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi traveled to Baghdad to find Acrassicauda, Iraq's most famous heavy metal band. From 2003-2006, Iraq disintegrated around Acrassicauda while they struggled to stay together and stay alive, always refusing to let their heavy metal dreams die. Their story echoes the unspoken hopes of an entire generation of young Iraqis.
