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This documentary follows a genial Muslim Australian host of Iraqi descent as he traces the origins and general excitement of Iraqi music, which has a strong Jewish component. He travels to several countries, including Iraq, Israel, The Netherlands and England to interview musicians involved with this music. They are nearly all (but not all) older men and they seem genuinely delighted with his interest. We see a lot of individual homes, and some groups of folks in these countries. This is an important documentary of record, and leads into a really satisfying conclusion.—marklear-1

This musical odyssey uncovers the hidden - and almost erased - story of Iraqi music. After escaping from Saddam's regime, Majid Shokor searches for the source of the songs he loved hearing in Baghdad's bustling streets and crowded coffeehouses. The Ba'ath Party purged Iraqi music of its origins, but Majid learns the truth, as he travels the world to meet exiled musicians who still sing and play these songs. They are reunited in a joyful concert at London's Barbican Centre, where music and culture are bridges that transcend religion and politics.

On the Banks of the Tigris" follows Iraqi-Australian Majid Shokor's journey to uncover the hidden, and almost erased, story of Iraqi music.

As a young boy, Majid loved singing and listening to music in the cafes and markets of Baghdad. Music and acting were his passions, but Saddam's brutal regime shattered his dreams. At age 19, he was conscripted into the army and spent the next ten years near the front lines of the Iran-Iraq war. After the war, which killed 500,000 people and ended in a stalemate, Majid married and had two children. As a talented actor, he was invited to join the Iraqi National Theatre company, an "invitation" he could not refuse. But Majid wasn't willing to perform plays that were propaganda for the regime. With his wife and two young daughters, he was forced to flee, live in exile, and seek resettlement somewhere outside his country.

After seven long years with no permanent home, Australia offered Majid and his family a safe haven, but the music of his childhood still lingered in Majid's mind. He began to search and made a startling discovery - that many of the best-known Iraqi songs were written by Iraqi Jews. What happened to these Iraqi Jewish musicians? How was this history so well hidden?

Majid embarks on a bold journey to find out more. His quest takes him from Australia to Israel, Europe and Iraq to meet great Iraqi musicians and hear their stories. Young and old, Muslim, Jewish and Christian, they all play the same songs and share a sense of loss and longing for their homeland.

In Israel he meets Elias Shasha, an oud player and singer who expresses this longing poetically: "If I close my eyes my tears will start to flow. I remember beautiful days, beautiful hours, beautiful places. The Tigris, the boats, the fish. I can't forget that I was born in Baghdad and I am an Iraqi." Alber Elias, an exceptional ney player (an Iraqi bamboo flute) like most Iraqi Jews felt forced to leave Iraq in the early 1950s. He says, "Oh, I left my heart there. When I was leaving, the bus that took us to the airport passed the radio station and I started to cry."

Kawkab Hamza, a music critic and composer living in exile, whose defiance of censorship nearly cost him his life, helps to unravel the hidden history. "I was a member of the Committee to Examine Iraqi Musical Heritage. They came up with a very strange idea. As a committee we would listen to all the songs that had been recorded and decide what's good, and keep the good and burn the bad. I thought, how can we do that? This is our cultural heritage!"

Majid's dream of a unifying concert bears fruit when he brings Iraqi musicians of all faiths together in a joyful celebration at London's Barbican Centre. Featured performers include renowned Iraqi maqam singer Farida Mohammed Ali, oud master Ahmed Mukhtar, and the well known Iraqi-Israeli violinist, oud player and singer Yair Dalal with his ensemble. For Majid the concert is the culmination of a long journey and the fulfilment of his dream: "It's such a wonderful experience to see all these people on the stage and in the audience celebrating our common humanity, our common love for music."