Sean McAllister The Minders

The Minders

"The sense of resignation that pervades Iraqi society could not be better summarized" [Martin Kramer, Middle East Quarterly]

"This extraordinary film was made by Sean McAllister during the last Iraqi crisis (the one defused by the UN's Kofi Annan in person *February 1998).

With air strikes averted, McAllister decided to carry on filming, making a double portrait of his two Ministry of Information minders, Kifah and Alla.

The likeable and decent Kifah, a former English teacher enjoying a rare spell of paid work, is a football mad Anglophile: 'I can't forget Bobby Moore,' he sighs. Alla, Head of Protocol, is a suave ladies' man and pop fan (very taken with Chumbawumba).

McAllister carries on filming Kifah after he is dropped as a minder and in doing so creates an illuminating and touching picture of the man and of everyday life in Iraq."

© Nigel Andrew, The Daily Mail

Reviews: The Minders

© Martin Kramer, Middle East Quarterly, Fall 2001 → 'How can one escape the grip of the ever-present minders, and come away with something authentic? One answer: film them. This is precisely what BBC journalist Sean McAllister did in The Minders. ...The sense of resignation that pervades Iraqi society could not be better summarized. Read more

Links: The Minders

Après la Guerre - Middle East Quarterly