The Road to Fallujah

In November 2004, the largest urban battle of the Iraq War took place in the city of Fallujah that changed the course and outcome of America’s ambitions in Iraq. Fallujah, considered by Iraqis to be a sacred and holy city and by the American military as “the hotbed of the insurgency,” was largely destroyed in an eight-day battle called “Operation Phantom Fury.”

In January 2005, following the battle, filmmaker Mark Manning joined forces with an Iraqi human rights worker, Rana Al-Aiouby, and became the only un-embedded western civilian to live with the people of Fallujah and document their stories. Manning & Al-Aiouby were the only outside civilians to gain access inside this forbidden city which, to this day, remains under controlled access to outsiders and the international press. The revealing documentary film, The Road to Fallujah, brings to light the true consequences of war, humanizes the issues, and gives a voice to the people directly involved and affected on both sides.

As one Military Commander said, “As went Fallujah, so went Iraq.” The Road to Fallujah gives a detailed analysis of the circumstances that led to the siege of Fallujah, the actual events of the siege itself, and the consequences of the battle that have shaped the present situation in Iraq and beyond.