Young Jawad, born to a traditional Shiʻite family of corpse washers and shrouders in Baghdad, decides to abandon the family tradition, choosing instead to become a sculptor, to celebrate life rather than tend to death. But the 2003 invasion and military occupation unleash sectarian violence and Jawad returns to the inevitable washing and shrouding. He now must contemplate how death shapes daily life and the bodies of Baghdad's inhabitants.
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