Karbala

After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Poland, a key coalition ally, sends 2,500 stabilization forces to Iraq. One of them is a 40-man unit in Karbala that's about to play a pivotal but little-known role in the mission. Upon being thrown into the chaos in which the city is roiling during an important Shiite holiday in 2004, the new recruits learn that Al-Qaeda plans to attack City Hall, the Iraqi government's seat of power. Their troop is ordered by the US command to defend City Hall with the assistance of 40 Bulgarian soldiers. Thus do they embark, amid internal strife and against impossible odds, on a multi-day siege, Shooting on location in the Middle East, writer/director Krzysztof Lukaszewicz adds a new dimension to our understanding of the Iraq War, putting a non-American face on the conflict while telling an incredible yet underreported story about one of its turning points. (Denver International Film Festival)