Sonali Pahwa speaks to Kouross Esmaeli, an Iranian-born, New York-based filmmaker who recently went to Iraq, about the politics of US representation of Iraqis

.. Going to Iraq was like stepping out of the screen and into the street. Baghdad is devastated. It is a large city with beautiful public spaces, artworks and buildings that are covered in dust, bombed out or just abandoned. I arrived there on the day the Red Cross and several other international agencies were bombed. And the mood never really changed after that: fear mingled with a strong desire for normalcy. …here