May 2019 – Mosul Film

MOSUL film still

A former staff operations officer with the CIA, Dan Gabriel is the founder and chief executive officer of AM LLC, an Arlington, VA based firm providing best-practice information, research, and communications solutions for highly challenging and restricted operating environments for USG clients. In addition, Dan Gabriel recently made his directing debut with the film MOSUL, which Cleveland’s largest newspaper reviewed favorably in a recent article: “Cleveland International Film Festival: Powerful ‘Mosul’ documentary to have world premiere.”

MOSUL film still

The article begins by addressing the complexity of the subject matter in the movie. The story centers on the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul, in which forces from multiple countries were involved in attempting to take the city back from ISIS control and approximately 10,000 people were killed. The movie tells the story in real time through the eyes of the individuals who were there. Much of the footage comes from interviews and combat footage by Ali Maula, an Iraqi journalist, and as a result, viewers see what it was like inside refugee camps and combat zones, as well as witness ISIS detainees first-hand.

The article commends the film for avoiding a political spin on the story, instead focusing on how the all-out urban warfare directly impacted individuals. The film runs 96 minutes, features both English and Arabic, and has English subtitles.

Dan Gabriel is an authority in intelligence and national-security matters. He is the founder and CEO of AM LLC, which offers innovative technologies and communication solutions to support US government missions around the globe. For the last 15 years, Dan Gabriel, a former CIA counter-terrorism officer, has worked in support of major security efforts for the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and other agencies.

In addition, he is the director and executive producer of the feature-length documentary MOSUL (2019). MOSUL focuses on the efforts to liberate Iraq’s second-largest city from control of the Islamic State. The story is told through the eyes of an Iraqi journalist Ali Maula, who leads a team of independent filmmakers up the Tigris River to get a first-hand account of unfolding events.

MOSUL Film still — *Coalition soldiers pointing rifles*

MOSUL features characters from diverse cultures, faiths, and backgrounds, including the Kurdish peshmerga, Shiite militias, Sunni tribesman, and Christian fighter groups, that make up modern Iraq. The film highlights their efforts against violent Islamic extremism, but serves a cautionary note on sectarian conflict that remains rooted in thousands of years of mistrust.