Iraq & Lebanon

04.05.2005

Watched Voices of Iraq last night. Wow. If you've not yet seen it, I highly recommend it (available on Netflix). Unlike many other documentaries about Iraq, this is one of the few (certainly the only one I know) made by Iraqis themselves.

The film's producers distributed 150 digital video cameras throughout the country, and asked Iraqis to film as they wished. The film's soundtrack's by Euphrates, an Iraqi hip hop group. Here's the film's FAQ, w/ information on how the cameras were distributed & collected. You can even view the participant guide producers distributed, both in Arabic & English.

The end result was an amazing, and fairly balanced portrayal of Iraq (some pro-Bush, pro-Saddam, anti-war, etc). The cameras reached various parts of Iraq, including Kurdistan, Falluja, the south marshlands, Baghdad (some cameras were even used by insurgents). On the balance, there was much hope (especially about democracy) among the respondents that things were getting better, and would continue to do so. Either way, it's certainly Iraqis speaking in their own words, not through celebrity proxies or media filters.

Here are film reviews from The New York Times, the San Francisco Gate, and Variety.

In related matter, Spirit of America's asking for support w/ its Lebanese independence project. Donations support the demonstrators camped out in Beirut's Martyrs' Square. I've encouraged people to support their various projects before, especially their sister schools program.

Posted by Miguel at 03:24 PM

Comments

Do you think it would be a good film for an IR class? It sounds like it from your description.

Posted by: Melli at April 5, 2005 04:31 PM

Another great one I hope you get a chance to see is "Hotel Rwanda". It's probably also good viewing for an IR or African Politics class. It's not that gory (a good thing for me) and went beyond the emotional aspects. I put it in that cateogry of things I hate myself for seeing/watching/listening to, but I'm glad I did.

Also, what did you think of "Sin City"?

Posted by: Kara at April 5, 2005 04:40 PM

@Melli:

I think "Voices of Iraq" would be good for a discussion, but for an IR thought-provoking documentary, I'd recommend "The Fog of War" instead. Just that the latter is more easily structured around IR concepts/themes in a very deliberate way.

@Kara:

"Hotwel Rwanda" is on my Netflix que. And I really wasn't too impressed w/ "Sin City". It was a bit too over the top for me, w/ poor characterization, and weak story. Most of my friends liked it, but I personally didn't think it was as good as "Kill Bill".

Posted by: Miguel [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 5, 2005 06:23 PM

I agree with your assessment of Sin City, Miguel. Too much, characters were poorly developed, and the story was pathetically weak.

Posted by: tom at April 7, 2005 01:16 AM