First section looks at the sorry existence of young, fatherless Mohammed Haithem, in and out of school and working for a gruff Baghdad auto mechanic. After this emotionally felt but less-than-penetrating look at disenfranchised Sunnis, the pic momentarily improves in a midsection set in the Shiite south. Longley scores a scoop as he records self-styled Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr's feared militia brutally enforcing ultra-conservative Islamic laws. Final section with a Kurdish farming family shows little of this group's well-developed independent culture.

Camera (color, DV), Longley; editors, Billy McMillin, Fiona Otway, Longley; music, Longley. Arabic, Kurdish dialogue. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (competing), Jan. 20, 2006. Running time: 93 MIN.