Al Jawahiri's Draft

Official Selection (HelAFF’25) | Documentary

Al-Jawahiri's Draft
10 min. | IRAQ

Synopsis:
Al-Jawahiri’s Draft offers an intimate journey into the private world of renowned Iraqi poet Mohammad Mahdi Al-Jawahiri — not through his published works, but through his personal notes, handwritten drafts, and private journals. The film reveals the poet’s unique and unconventional writing process: beginning not with the first verse, but with the final rhyme, and then meticulously constructing the poem around it.
Told through the personal testimony of his granddaughter, Ban Furat Mohammad Mahdi Al-Jawahiri — who lived in his home and witnessed these moments firsthand — the film brings to light untold stories and everyday details that remained hidden from the public eye. We experience the quiet rituals of composition, the first listeners to his verses, the moments of familial celebration, and the path a poem would take from paper to publication.

Al-Jawahiri’s Draft is more than a documentary about a poet — it is a rare glimpse into the creative mind behind a literary icon, and an evocative portrait of poetry in its raw, intimate form.

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Screening Time:
Thursday 11 September 2025
5 PM

KORJAAMO KINO
Tickets on lippu.fi