The Husseins: At the Center of Power

Television series
German title	The Husseins: At the Center of Power
Original title	House of Saddam
Country of production	USA , UK
original language	English
year	2008
Production company	BBC HBO
length	60 minutes
Episodes	4 in 1 season
genre	drama
production	Alex Holmes Hilary Salmon Steve Lightfoot
music	Samuel Sim
First broadcast	July 30, 2008 (UK) on BBC Two
German-language first broadcast	September 4, 2009 on FOX Channel
occupation
Jigal Naor : Saddam Hussein Shohreh Aghdashloo : Sadschida Talfah Saïd Taghmaoui : Barzan Ibrahim at-Tikriti Makram Khoury : Tariq Aziz Mounir Margoum : Qusai Hussein Philip Arditti : Udai Hussein Agni Scott : Raghad Hussein Shivani Ghai : Rana Hussein Amber Rose Revah : Hala Hussein Christine Stephen-Daly : Samira Shahbandar Uri Gavriel : Ali Hasan al-Majid Sasson Gabai : Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr

The Husseins: In the Center of Power is the title of a four-part miniseries produced on behalf of the BBC and HBO in 2008 . It tells the life story of the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein .

It was first broadcast on July 30, 2008 on the BBC.

action

The film opens on April 9, 2003, when US bombs are thrown on Baghdad and the Iraq war begins. The Hussein family is forced to leave their palace.

The film then flashes back to 1979 and tells how Saddam Hussein was appointed General Secretary of the Baʿth Party by President al-Bakr and he was promoted to President of Iraq in the summer of the same year. The film then reconstructs the 24 years of his reign and dictatorial politics.

The story ends with Hussein's capture and execution in December 2006.

Background information

The film was preceded by two years of research by the authors and the two-person directing team. The film was then shot in Tunisia for 12 weeks .

It was first broadcast on July 30, 2008 on the BBC. In England, 2.7 million British people watched the first part, which corresponds to a market share of 13%.

In German-speaking countries, the series could be seen from September 4, 2009 on the pay TV channel FOX .

Reviews

• The Guardian : If you loved The Godfather and The Sopranos, tuck in. House of Saddam is like The Sopranos without the jokes [...] (If you love The Godfather or The Sopranos , tune in. House of Saddam is like Die Sopranos without the jokes [...])

Awards

• Jigal Naor was awarded the Golden Nymph for his portrayal of the Iraqi dictator , Shohreh Aghdashloo received the Emmy .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Guardian.co.uk , July 31, 2008
2. ^ "Hussein" series as a German premiere ( Memento from July 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Magnus.de, July 23, 2009
3. ^ Nancy Banks-Smith on Guardian.co.uk , July 31, 2008

Web links

• The Hussein: In the center of power in the Internet Movie Database (English)