(CNN) -- "Look around. We are living in a heavy metal world." -- Faisal, lead vocals, Acrassicauda Four young men start a band in a basement. Their music is loud, their t-shirts lurid, their language littered with expletives. Big noise? Big deal. But Firas, Tony, Marwan and Faisal aren't your average young metalheads. They claim to be Iraq's only heavy metal band, and the documentary film "Heavy Metal in Baghdad," which premiered at this year's Berlin Film Festival, gives a harrowing glimpse of their everyday life in a city torn apart by war. Directed by Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi, with Spike Jonze sporting an executive producer credit, this feature follows the four young musicians' desperate struggle to make the music they love, from the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day.
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Rockumentary "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" features Iraq's only heavy metal band
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Band members struggle to make music, face hostility for long hair, rock t-shirts
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Film shows Iraqi metal fans writhing in a makeshift mosh pit in a genteel hotel
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The band faces a tough choice: stay in Baghdad or flee to Syria
Acrassicauda
The directors track down @placeholder (the band is named after a particularly venomous black desert scorpion) on the streets of Baghdad.
Iraq
Iraq
Iraqi
"Nobody could live under the same circumstances that an @placeholder could live in," says bassist Firas.
Faisal
Faisal
"You have to deal with death and fear every day," adds singer @placeholder.
Acrassicauda
In Baghdad, as fundamentalism begins to flourish post-Saddam, @placeholder and their fans are viewed with suspicion for both their music and their appearance.
Marwan
"You just feel like you're caged, like there's chains all around you," says drummer @placeholder.
Acrassicauda
That contrasts with the nervy, cautious approach of their subjects, as @placeholder snatch careful moments to share their lives with the directors.
Syria
But @placeholder is no easy lifeline: They'll face a perilous 16-hour bus ride, run the gauntlet of barricades, checkpoints, kidnappers and exploitative fixers, and risk their life savings.
Baghdad
Baghdad
Marwan greets the situation with aggression -- "if I don't play drums, I'd kill someone" -- and a growing anger at those who have allowed the situation in @placeholder to arise; Firas conceals his feelings behind bravado and laughter; while singer Faisal becomes increasingly withdrawn and introspective.
Faisal
Faisal
Marwan greets the situation with aggression -- "if I don't play drums, I'd kill someone" -- and a growing anger at those who have allowed the situation in Baghdad to arise; Firas conceals his feelings behind bravado and laughter; while singer @placeholder becomes increasingly withdrawn and introspective.
Acrassicauda
It's a constant struggle to survive, but one that @placeholder aren't prepared to abandon -- yet.