Synopsis
MY NAME IS BAGHDAD presents the everyday life of Baghdad, a 17-year-old female skateboarder. Baghdad’s daily life does not present many surprises. She spends her days with her family, with her mother’s friends, and skateboarding with the neighborhood skater boys.
Baghdad is the only female skateboarder in her crew. Her strong, explosive personality makes her feel like “one of the boys,” but she feels like an outsider when confronted by her male friends’ sexist jokes and behavior. When she meets Vanessa, another female skateboarder from her neighborhood, and later on when she meets a group of female skateboarders whom she befriends, she is presented with another side of skateboarding. Baghdad feels she can relate better to the female skateboarders and their universe, especially after these new friends help her to retaliate against one of her male skateboarder friends who harasses her at a party.
Other characters are also part of Baghdad’s daily life. MICHELINE, 40, her mother, is struggling to make a living and to provide for her daughters, working in a neighborhood beauty parlor. Micheline is a strong woman who does not let any man bring her down when she is drinking in the neighborhood bar, which is frequented mostly by men.
BIA, 9, Baghdad’s younger sister, is more interested in outer space than in anything else. She spends her days trying to be part of an expedition for the colonization of Mars and to communicate with Martians. JOSEANE, 16, the middle sister, is a frenetic girl who on the surface appears to be a vain, superficial teenager, but deep down is strong, intelligent, and extremely witty.
GILDA, 49, the only transsexual woman in the neighborhood, is negatively perceived by her neighbors. She and her friend EMILIO, 61, live together in the beauty parlor where Micheline works, and they are role models for Baghdad, who spends her spare time in the beauty parlor among wigs, makeup, and nail polish.
GLADYS, 47, owns the bar that Micheline frequents. Gladys takes care of Baghdad and her sisters as if they were her daughters, offering them snacks and advice.
The narrative of the film is built from daily episodes of the characters’ lives, revealing how extraordinary these women are.