300 hours of material was filmed in Iraq over a period of more than two years for this production. 1600 pages of typed transcripts, translations of material from Arabic and Kurdish, were made before picture and sound editing could begin.
Four complete chapters were edited for the film, but only three chapters are included in the final version. The missing chapter deals with the struggle of an Iraqi woman whose 10-year-old son is dying of AIDS.
In 2012 IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS was named by the Sundance Documentary Program as one of the 10 best documentary films of the past decade.
The film was originally intended as a multi-part series on Iraq but was later shortened into a single film when the country became too dangerous to work in.
James Longley traveled to Iraq twice prior to the 2003 war but was unable to begin principal photography until the Saddam Hussein regime collapsed in April 2003.