Heavyweight culture channel Arte France has boarded Flavors of Iraq, an animated documentary feature directed by Léonard Cohen. The film was presented at Cartoon Movie, the European pitching event held virtually last week.
Flavors of Iraq recounts the country’s tumultuous recent history through the lens of French-Iraqi journalist Feurat Alani’s life story. The project began as a series of 1,000-plus tweets Alani sent in 2016, detailing the history and daily life of Iraq. The tweets were adapted into an award-winning book illustrated by Cohen and an Arte web series, again directed by Cohen. (Watch an episode below and check out the rest here.)
The feature will continue the story, focusing on the Islamic State years of 2011–17. Alani is writing the screenplay with Cohen, who is directing in his feature debut.
