The Liberace of Baghdad

Appeared at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
In Iraq to make a film about Saddam Hussein's trial, British documentarian Sean McAllister turns his cameras on an alternative Baghdad celebrity: Samir Peter, a colorful lounge pianist who entertains mercenaries and contractors in a hotel catering to foreigners. As Peter travels in post-invasion Baghdad telling his story — including his bad luck when Saddam's regime disapproved of his Western tastes — McAllister records a rare glimpse of contemporary Iraqi life, where stray bullets, assassinations and visits to the morgue are routine.

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