Mesopotamia, 1946. Adam and Ali are forced to watch the washing of their grandfather’s body. The experience affects Adam so deeply that he decides never to grow up—⁠—and stops aging.

The years go by, and the villagers believe Adam is cursed, while his brother—⁠—who ages year by year—⁠—grows bitter and insists that Adam should be institutionalized. Over several decades, the family, friends, and Iraq undergo enormous changes, while Adam remains the same. Only Iman and Anki, a shepherd and Adam’s best friend, see his condition as a blessing.

This is a beautiful, magical-realist, and allegorical story set among the sand dunes and oases of Mesopotamia, a region in Iraq often referred to as a cradle of civilization.

Dir/Scr ODAY RASHEED, born 1973, is an Iraqi-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. He made his directorial debut with Underexposure in 2005, which is regarded as the first film filmed in Baghdad during the American occupation. Songs of Adam is his fourth feature film as a director.