| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (59 min. 53 sec.) ; 359934281 bytes |
| Summary |
This documentary tells the story of four Iraqi boys at school in one of the most dangerous cities on earth, Baghdad. As the city is torn apart by sectarian violence, the film follows their friendships, to see whether they can survive.The boys reflect a variety of religious and social viewpoints. Anmar is Catholic, Ali is a Kurd, Haydar is a Shia and Mohammad is both Shia and Sunni. At Tariq bin Ziad High School the boys are about to begin their final year. They have agreed to film their own lives over the next 10 months and to share their most intimate thoughts.The four friends are facing an uncertain future as sectarian violence and tensions grow. As hundreds of thousands of Iraqis flee their country, how many of the boys will even be in Baghdad to see the end of the year? Both the boys and their families have to make important decisions, such as whether to flee to safer areas.While The Boys from Baghdad High deals with the violence and chaos that grips Iraq, it also deals with the universal joys and dilemmas of young men who are coming of age and edging into the world of adulthood.Co-produced by highly acclaimed filmmaker Ivan OMahoney, whose credits include the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Amnesty International Media Award the 2006 Prix Europa and the Golden Nymph Award at Monte Carlo, this film was a surprising and unique insight into ordinary adolescent Iraqi lives. As he admits;The film shouldnt surprise me but it did. As a documentary filmmaker, I always try to look behind the headlines. However, the daily news about Iraq was so relentlessly depressing for so many years, that I started to equate Iraq with misery and only misery a society starved of any sense of normality. It was therefore fantastic to realise that there can be normality amidst all the violence. It gave me a lot of hope to see kids just be kids. (From the UK, in Arabic and English, English subtitles) (Documentary) |
| Event |
Broadcast 2010-02-08 at 19:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: M |
| Subject |
Friendship in adolescence.
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Iraq War (2003-2011)
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Iraqis -- Social conditions.
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Postwar reconstruction.
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Teenage boys -- Psychology.
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Iraq -- Baghdad.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Curtis, Ian, cast
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O'Mahoney, Ivan, director
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Winter, Laura, director
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