I saw Heavy Metal In Baghdad at the Sydney Film Festival back in June, and I still have very mixed feelings about it. It’s brilliant in so many ways; it’s brutalising, it brings these guys’ story to a huge audience and it reveals just how wanting the media coverage of the Iraq war was (and continues in its non-existence, to be). But it is also — I feel — exploitative of the subject at certain parts of the story, as I argue in the review. This is the by-product of an inherently problematic aspect of documentary: by involving yourself in the story as the reporter, you change the story.

I was also bothered by what little credit was given to Gideon Yago, the ex-MTV journalist who wrote the original story on which the film was based. He had tracked the band down and interviewed them for VICE in 2004, and that profile is the basis of the film. This is briefly glossed over in the final product. So I emailed Gideon to ask how he felt about that, and he is 100% behind the film and was involved in a lot of on-the-ground planning and getting the crew into Baghdad. So in short, he didn’t feel VICE had jacked his steez, which was the problem I had.

It’s getting a theatrical release here soon if all goes to plan. Otherwise it’s elsewhere. Go see it.