Immortals
Maja Tschumi / Switzerland & Iraq / 2024 / World Premiere / 94 min
A feminist who sneaks out of the house dressed as a man and a filmmaker who uses his camera as a weapon. Milo and Khalili are two young Iraqis who risk their lives for freedom and the future in an unusual and cinematic film about life in Baghdad.
After 20 years of war in Iraq, most people will might associate the country with a handheld chaos. ‘Immortals’ gives us a rare and cinematic experience of what it’s actually like to live in Baghdad as a young person and make a life for yourself in the Middle Eastern metropolis – or at least try to. Milo is a strong-willed feminist who discovers she can roam freely around the city by dressing in her brother’s clothes, while stubbornly trying to find a job and maintain a close relationship with her best friend. And Khalili is a young and ambitious filmmaker who realises that the camera is the most powerful weapon of all when risking his life in street battles. However, ‘Immortals’ is not content to simply observe the small and big struggles of two young Iraqis in a country where 60 per cent of the population is under the age of 25. With the labyrinthine city as a backdrop, the film moves into a subjective space where they stage their experiences with the creative freedom that comes with finally being able to tell their own story.