Madness and Honey Days

After being accused of publicly insulting Saddam Hussein, actor Salem avoids execution by convincing authorities he is insane. Exiled to a psychiatric hospital in Baghdad, he must carefully balance performance and reality, knowing that if he is declared sane, a death sentence awaits.

The film was supported in 2026 and received 500 000 NOK.

Jury Statement

“There is something rotten in the state of Denmark” is the key line in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Applied to Iraq under president Saddam Hussein, one truly can say the same. When the protagonist and theater actor in Madness and Honey Days accidentally offends the tyrant in public, certain death or detention in a psychiatric ward as insane are the only options. 

The jury is impressed by the creative script, depicting a protagonist who completely dives into the role of Hamlet in a psychiatric ward to stay alive. It gives a surprising, and at times both hilarious and bleak, perspective on how to survive under a regime where all missteps are punished with no mercy. 

The script moves between the morbid and the laughable, and gives an inventive take on where the madness actually is confined in a society governed by a brutal dictatorship. To use a cultural icon like Shakespeare in this plot gives the film a universal dimension, while the Iraqi director uses his artistic capabilities in an impressive way to scrutinize the history of his home country.