My College and I (2003)

Idea, Script, Writing, Filming, Editing: Qais Al-Sindy
Music and Sound Effects: Anas Haddad
Directed by: Qais Al-Sindy
Duration: 08:07 min

Selective subtitles from the film:
College of Fine Arts / Baghdad - Iraq
3rd of May 2003

Amid the echoes of war and the promise of resuming my Master’s studies, I stepped into the College of Fine Arts in Baghdad, only to find devastation where knowledge once thrived. The library a sanctuary of intellect and creativity, had been reduced to ashes. Not a single book remained unscathed; bookcases, once brimming with invaluable references, stood charred and hollow.

With my personal camera, I filmed the aftermath, a documentary testament to the erasure of history, the silencing of knowledge. I collected a handful of the ashes, feeling compelled to preserve them as evidence of this cultural tragedy, to one day display them as a witness to what was lost.

A college without books is a void, a space stripped of its essence, leaving students without guidance, without the resources to pursue their academic dreams. The destruction was not just of paper and ink, but of aspirations, ideas, and an irreplaceable intellectual heritage.

Yet history is resilient. Knowledge, though momentarily silenced, finds new ways to speak. This video stands as an unfiltered record of that moment, not as a symbol of despair, but as a call for renewal for rebuilding what was lost, for ensuring that creativity and learning continue to thrive despite the shadows of destruction.