A Great Documentary Film: Pilgrimage to Karbala free Online

I just discovered the wonderful* documentary program on PBS’ Wide Angle called “Pilgrimage to Karbala” which is available online in its entirety.

The documentary follows a handful of Iranians who take a three day trip from Tehran to the Shi’ite holy city of Karbala, Iraq.

The filmmakers manage to intersperse through the film some of the most remarkable footage of the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war from the late 1970s and 1980s. This is footage rarely seen in news reports here in the United States. Not to be missed are the performances of an Iranian singer (known as the “Imam’s Nightingale”) who sang Shi’ite songs to motivate Iranian soldiers before they marched off to their possible deaths (about 42 minutes into the film).

I add the asterisk to “wonderful” in my description of the film because although the archival footage is stunning, it often is used without a time marker. In other words, it is easy to for a viewer to mix up Iran c. 1983 with Iran c.2006. These are two very different times, for two very different generations of Iranians.

Despite the fact that Islam remains central to the political and social identities of many Iranians today, it is not as vital to one’s Iranianess as it was 30 years ago as the country is a vastly different place demographically.

Finally, many veterans of the Iran-Iraq war would take great offense to the idea that they fought for Iran during the war solely because of their love of Shi’ism. Many went to war simply in defense of nation rather than defence of faith. Iranians are, after all, a highly nationalistic and patriotic people. This aspect of the war was largely neglected by the filmmakers.

None the less, the documentary is a must see.

Readers wishing to watch the film from outside the United States may have better luck watching the film here.

Also, if anyone can recomend some reading or films about the Iran-Iraq war from the Iraq side please let Qizilbash know!