For several years, I’ve been working on a project centered on Hamid al-Saadi and the maqam community in Brooklyn, NY. In fall 2019, Hamid left Iraq, where he no longer felt he could safely pursue his artistic pursuits - the performance and embodied archiving of the centuries-old maqam tradition. He was joined by his wife Israa in summer 2020. Though Covid has curbed his performances here in the U.S., before the pandemic and in limited pockets now, he shares his gifts and encyclopedic knowledge with former and current students, the Iraqi diaspora, and new audiences. More than a music documentary, the film aims to demonstrate the deeper cultural roots that are torn up by war and political chaos, while also perceiving the roads forward for this deep musical heritage.