46 Documentary films about the Iraq War

About Baghdad is a documentary film shot in Baghdad, Iraq in 2003. It is the first documentary film to have been made in Iraq following the fall of the Baath regime. The film features the artist Sinan Antoon as he returns to his native Baghdad. It privileges the voices of native Iraqis from all walks of life, as they present their views on life during the regime of Saddam Hussein as well as the United States's bombing, invasion, and occupation.

Andy McNab's Tour of Duty is a British documentary television series about the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War.

Baghdad ER is a documentary released by HBO on May 21, 2006. It shows the Iraq War from the perspective of a military hospital in Baghdad. It has some relatively disturbing scenes in it, therefore the U.S. Army is officially warning that military personnel watching it could experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Body of War is a 2007 documentary film about Iraq War veteran Tomas Young. Bill Moyers Journal featured a one-hour special about Body of War including interviews with filmmakers Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue.

The Boys from Baghdad High, also known as Baghdad High, is a British-American-French television documentary film. It was first shown in the United Kingdom at the 2007 Sheffield Doc/Fest, before airing on BBC Two on 8 January 2008. It also aired in many other countries including France, Australia, the United States, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. It documents the lives of four Iraqi schoolboys of different religious or ethnic backgrounds over the course of one year in the form of a video diary. The documentary was filmed by the boys themselves, who were given video cameras for the project.

Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror is a 2003 Carlton Television documentary written and directed by John Pilger, produced by Christopher Martin and co-directed by Steve Connelly. In the film, Pilger presents a personal view of "the truth and lies in the 'war on terror'."

Brothers at War is a 2009 documentary film directed by Jake Rademacher and produced by Rademacher and Norman S. Powell. The film follows several US soldiers in the Iraq War. The film's executive producers are actor, director, and Presidential Citizens Medal recipient Gary Sinise and Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service recipient David Scantling. Brothers at War won the Best Documentary Feature Award at the 2008 GI Film Festival. The film features an original score by Lee Holdridge and an original song--"Brothers in Arms"—by John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting.

Bush Family Fortunes: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy is a 2004 documentary film directed by Steven Grandison and Greg Palast. The film, which examines various aspects of the Presidency of George W. Bush, including the 2000 US Presidential election and the Iraq War, is adapted from the 2003 BBC production Bush Family Fortunes and based on the 2002 book The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by investigative journalist Palast, who had spent years tracking the Bush family for the BBC and The Guardian newspaper. The research for the original BBC film, which claims to have exposed the George W. Bush military service controversy, was also drawn upon by Michael Moore for Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) and footage was used by Robert Greenwald in Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002).

Control Room is a 2004 documentary film directed by Jehane Noujaim, about Al Jazeera and its relations with the US Central Command (CENTCOM), as well as the other news organizations that covered the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Cysgod Rhyfel, also known as The Shadow of War, is a 2014 documentary film which explores the mental effects of conflict on former soldiers and their families. Predominantly in Welsh, the film was first broadcast on S4C on 18 May 2014. It was directed and produced by John Evans.

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is a 2007 documentary film, directed by Rory Kennedy, that examines the events of the 2004 Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal. The film premiered January 19, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

The Ground Truth is a 2006 documentary film about veterans of the Iraq War. It was directed and produced by Patricia Foulkrod.

Gunner Palace is a 2004 documentary film by Michael Tucker, which had a limited release in the United States on March 4, 2005. The film was an account of the complex realities of the situation in Iraq during 2003–2004 amidst the Iraqi insurgency not seen on the nightly news. Told first-hand by American troops stationed in the middle of Baghdad, Gunner Palace presents a portrait of a dangerous and chaotic war.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a 2007 rockumentary film following filmmakers Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi as they track down the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda amidst the Iraq War.

I Am an American Soldier is a 2007 documentary film about the Iraq War, produced by John Laurence. "One Year in Iraq with the 101st Airborne."

Imminent Threat is a 2015 documentary film about the War on Terror's impact on civil liberties as well as the potential coalition that may form between the progressive left and libertarian right. The film is directed by Janek Ambros and executive produced by James Cromwell, Jillian Barba, Anthony A. LoPresti, and D.J. Dodd.

Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers is a 2006 documentary film made by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films. Produced while the Iraq War was in full swing, the film deals with the alleged war profiteering and negligence of private contractors and consultants who went to Iraq as part of the US war effort.

Iraq in Fragments is a documentary film directed by James Longley. Longley shot the film in Digital Video on a Panasonic DVX100 miniDV camcorder. The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival where it won three awards: "Directing Award Documentary", "Editing Award Documentary" and "Excellence in Cinematography Award Documentary". The film is also a part of the Iraq Media Action Project film collection. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film was shot in Iraq and edited at 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle. This film has three parts to it which describe the viewpoints of Sunni, Shi'ite, and Kurdish residents.

Meeting Resistance is a 2007 documentary film about the Iraq War. The film presents the views of eleven Iraqi resistance fighters in the Adhamiyah neighborhood of Baghdad. The film was directed by journalists Molly Bingham and Steve Connors (UK).

My Country, My Country is a 2006 documentary film about Iraq under U.S. occupation by the filmmaker Laura Poitras.

Nice Bombs is a 2006 documentary film directed by Iraqi-American filmmaker Usama Alshaibi about his return to his home country to visit his family after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The film is co-produced by Alshaibi's wife Kristie Alshaibi and co-executive produced by Studs Terkel.

No End in Sight is a 2007 American documentary film about the American occupation of Iraq. The film marks the directorial debut of Academy Award-winning documentary film producer Charles H. Ferguson. The film premiered January 22, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The film opened in limited release in the United States on July 27, 2007, playing in two theaters. As of December 2007, the film had grossed $1.4 million, and had been released on DVD. The film was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Occupation: Dreamland is a "grunt's-eye view," 2005 documentary film focused on a company of the 1/505 of the 82nd Airborne Division in Fallujah, Iraq, in early 2004. It is directed by Ian Olds and Garrett Scott.

Of Men and War is a 2014 documentary film by Laurent Bécue-Renard. It explores the psychological legacy of war on a group of American veterans returning from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The men are undergoing trauma therapy at The Pathway Home, a residential treatment program on the grounds of the Veterans Home in Yountville, CA until 2018. Over the course of five years, they participate in group therapy and one-on-one sessions and gradually transform their trauma into narratives of survival before returning home to their wives, children, and parents. The film premiered in the Special Screenings section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The film won the VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary at the 2014 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. It received a European Film Award for Best Documentary nomination at the 27th European Film Awards and screened at the Museum of Modern Art's Documentary Fortnight.

Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Richard E. Robbins, which portrays the lives and experiences of American combat soldiers who have been to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Peshmerga is a documentary film by the French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy. It was granted a late entry to the 2016 Cannes Film Festival as a special screening. It consists of a "close-up look" at the Peshmerga, the fighting force of the Kurds, battling to establish the state of Kurdistan across the existing states of Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.

The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair is a 2006 documentary film by American documentary filmmaker Michael Tucker.

The Road to Fallujah is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Mark Manning and written by Manning and Natalie Kalustian.

Severe Clear is a 2009 documentary film directed by American documentary maker Kristian Fraga, starring and using footage shot by First Lieutenant Mike Scotti of United States Marine Corps Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 4th Marines. The film explores the Marine drive to Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Shadow Company is a documentary directed by Nick Bicanic and Jason Bourque and narrated by Gerard Butler. It is an introduction to the mercenary and private military company industry, concentrating on the role the industry has been playing in recent conflicts. It was released on DVD in August 2006.

The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez is a 2006 documentary film directed by Heidi Specogna about the second US Marine to die during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Gutiérrez came from Guatemala and was a so-called 'green card soldier' i.e. he obtained American citizenship only after his death. He was killed by friendly fire.

Soldiers Pay is a 2004 documentary film by David O. Russell. It takes its name from Soldiers' Pay, a novel by William Faulkner.

Standard Operating Procedure is a 2008 American documentary film which explores the meaning of the photographs taken by U.S. military police at the Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003, the content of which revealed the torture and abuse of its prisoners by U.S. soldiers and subsequently resulted in a public scandal. The film was directed by Errol Morris.

Taking Liberties is a British documentary film about the erosion of civil liberties in the United Kingdom and increase of surveillance under the government of Tony Blair. It was released in the UK on 8 June 2007.

Thank You for Your Service is a 2015 documentary film by Tom Donahue that focuses on our superficial understanding of war trauma and the failed policies that result. Observing the systemic neglect, the film argues for significant internal change and offers a roadmap for hope. The film premiered at DOC NYC in November 2015.

The Triangle of Death, directed by Folleh Shar Francis Tamba, is a 2009 documentary about the Iraq War.

Uncovered: The War on Iraq is a 2004 documentary film directed by Robert Greenwald that builds the case that the George W. Bush administration intentionally deceived the American people in order to justify going to war in Iraq in 2003.

The Unreturned is a 2010 documentary film by Nathan Fisher. The film tells the story of five middle-class Iraqi refugees caught in an absurdist purgatory of endless bureaucracy, dwindling life savings, and forced idleness. The Unreturned was shot in verité style in Syria and Jordan, with unscripted narration by the refugees in the film. These Iraqis come from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Voices of Iraq is a 2004 documentary film about Iraq, created by distributing cameras to the subjects of a film, thus enabling subjects to film themselves. To preserve its innovative filmmaking, Voices of Iraq was added to the permanent collection of Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.

War Feels Like War is a 2004 British documentary film. It was broadcast in the United States as part of the P.O.V. series. For three months, Spanish filmmaker Esteban Uyarra followed five reporters and photographers from Denmark, Norway, Poland, and the United States in Iraq. These journalists circumvented military media control to get access to a different perspective on the Iraq War. As the Coalition of the willing swept into Iraq, some journalists in Kuwait decided to travel in their wake, risking their lives to discover the impact of war on civilians.

The War Tapes is a 2006 American war documentary film directed by Deborah Scranton. The film is the first documentary account of the 2003 invasion of Iraq to be produced by the soldiers themselves. The film follows three New Hampshire Army National Guard soldiers before, during, and after their deployment to Iraq about a year after the invasion. Their unit was Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain), which deployed from March 2004 to February 2005.

The War You Don't See is a 2010 British documentary film written, produced and directed by John Pilger with Alan Lowery, which challenges the media for the role they played in the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel/Palestine conflicts. The film, which went on nationwide general release on 13 December 2010, had its premiere at the Barbican and was aired through Britain's ITV1 on 14 December 2010 and later through Australia's SBS One on 10 April 2011.

We Are Many is a documentary film about the February 2003 global day of protest against the Iraq War, directed by Amir Amirani. Social movement researchers have described the 15 February protest as "the largest protest event in human history." Tony Blair's ally Lord Falconer says the anti-war march did change things:

The Western Front is a 2010 American feature-length documentary film directed by debut director Zachary Iscol about his experience as a Marine officer in Iraq and how the US changed its tactics in Iraq over time, produced by Radha Agrawal and Zachary Iscol, and written by Zachary Iscol. The film, the first about the Iraq War made by someone who served in it, debuted at the 2010 TriBeCa Film Festival, and screened around the United States.

Why We Fight is a 2005 documentary film about the military–industrial complex directed by Eugene Jarecki. The title refers to the World War II-era eponymous propaganda movies commissioned by the U.S. Government to justify their decision to enter the war against the Axis Powers.

Year at Danger is a 2007 independent documentary film. Nine days after his marriage, Steve Metze found out that he was being deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Metze, a West Point graduate, Desert Storm veteran, and documentary filmmaker, decided to pack a camera and document his year in Iraq. The film consists of footage shot by Metze during his deployment to Iraq and was edited by Don Swaynos.