Dance With a Bullet is a documentary film - spanning over ten years - that tells two intertwined stories: that of Dhyaa Joda, then a 23-year old Iraqi filmmaker, and that of Anmar Taha, then a 19-year old Iraqi dancer who had been his best friend.

In 2004 Anmar was shot in Baghdad. As a result, in fear of his life, he fled Iraq. As did Dhyaa.

Since then - over the course of many years and in several countries - the filmmaker has continued to document the dancer.

Through the stories of these two artists, who struggle to find their place as emigrants abroad, the film reveals how cultural activity of Iraqi artists - both inside and outside of Iraq - has become increasingly vital in the last decade, facing new dilemmas as the society becomes violently divided and the country starts to fragment.

production: Storyhouse, Linked Productions
support: Sanad Fund of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Screen Institute Beirut, Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Belgian Tax Shelter

Film by Dhyaa Joda selected for the Carthage Film Festival 2021