It's hard not to go to a movie called Voices of Iraq without bringing your personal views about the war, but it is a film with a value that goes beyond political.
150 video cameras were distributed to ordinary Iraqis over the summer of 2004. The resulting 400 hours of film were collected and edited down to about 80 minutes, subtitled, produced with Ango-Iraqi hip-hop music, occasionally cut with graphic footage from Saddam's regime, and overlaid with U.S. newspaper headlines or occasional explanatory notes. If has a fresh feel to it - if not exactly a tourist promotion video it does let you hear a large number of Iraqis talk about their country in their own words and a variety of locations that a Westerner would have difficulty visiting. What I liked best about it was seeing men, women and children with real hopes and dreams in such a devastated country, genuine smiling faces even in adversity, and some of the love and warmth of local people that is so easily forgotten when we only see footage of a war-torn country. "I hope the world will see our smiles," says one, and it is a beautiful image, far from the stereotype of the terrorist, religious spokesman, insurgent, or politician.
Voices of Iraq includes some very moving interviews. A Kurdish woman, restraining her tears as she recalls it, says how she started smoking at University and also regularly burning herself with cigarettes. Why? So she could be 'prepared' for when she was tortured. There were many reminders of the millions that Saddam tortured and killed. One man jokes about wanting to be tortured at Abu Ghraib, comparing the minor violations there to the horrific tortures exacted by Saddam Hussein.
Media headlines from the U.S. press are contrasted with opposing footage. For instance, a banner reading, "Militia force people to stay at home" introduces scenes of a vibrant, bustling street-market.
For anyone who has served in Iraq, or their friends and family, this is an uplifting film, and in many ways makes a more believable case for the invasion than the politicians on TV. For an upbeat (if not totally pro-American) view of the war it is positive and genuine. To watch it in the same afternoon as Fahrenheit 9/11 (if you are sufficiently open minded) might even persuade you there is no complete right or complete wrong.
But like Michael Moore's inflammatory anti-invasion film, Voices of Iraq is flawed and cannot claim to be as impartial or unbiased as it would like, simply because the people speaking on it are Iraqis. We have no way of knowing how it was edited - certainly there is no claim to have used a sociologically sound sampling method and to do so would possibly have made uninteresting viewing, but to suggest it was 'made' by the people of Iraq is disingenuous. Whilst the footage was shot by Iraqis, the editing, and hence any message to be distilled from that large amount of film, was done by an ex marine and his two NY colleagues with MTV experience.
Voices of Iraq fills a necessary hole in our understanding as long as it is not viewed unquestioningly. It enables you to feel warmer towards Iraqis as people. If it does 'support the position of the Bush administration' (as some have claimed) that's not sufficient reason to dismiss it.
At the Edinburgh International Film Festival UK premiere, Voices of Iraq was screened with a short called, 'Where is Iraq', which likewise has informal interviews with Iraqis, filmed by an Iraqi-Canadian. It provided some balance (as there were more anti-American views than pro) but itself suffered from the same problem - that if you interview enough people you will get the views you want.
Whatever your feelings about Iraq, it is still a country of real people, individuals like you or me. Voices of Iraq brings that a little bit closer.
150 video cameras were distributed to ordinary Iraqis over the summer of 2004. The resulting 400 hours of film were collected and edited down to about 80 minutes, subtitled, produced with Ango-Iraqi hip-hop music, occasionally cut with graphic footage from Saddam's regime, and overlaid with U.S. newspaper headlines or occasional explanatory notes. If has a fresh feel to it - if not exactly a tourist promotion video it does let you hear a large number of Iraqis talk about their country in their own words and a variety of locations that a Westerner would have difficulty visiting. What I liked best about it was seeing men, women and children with real hopes and dreams in such a devastated country, genuine smiling faces even in adversity, and some of the love and warmth of local people that is so easily forgotten when we only see footage of a war-torn country. "I hope the world will see our smiles," says one, and it is a beautiful image, far from the stereotype of the terrorist, religious spokesman, insurgent, or politician.
Voices of Iraq includes some very moving interviews. A Kurdish woman, restraining her tears as she recalls it, says how she started smoking at University and also regularly burning herself with cigarettes. Why? So she could be 'prepared' for when she was tortured. There were many reminders of the millions that Saddam tortured and killed. One man jokes about wanting to be tortured at Abu Ghraib, comparing the minor violations there to the horrific tortures exacted by Saddam Hussein.
Media headlines from the U.S. press are contrasted with opposing footage. For instance, a banner reading, "Militia force people to stay at home" introduces scenes of a vibrant, bustling street-market.
For anyone who has served in Iraq, or their friends and family, this is an uplifting film, and in many ways makes a more believable case for the invasion than the politicians on TV. For an upbeat (if not totally pro-American) view of the war it is positive and genuine. To watch it in the same afternoon as Fahrenheit 9/11 (if you are sufficiently open minded) might even persuade you there is no complete right or complete wrong.
But like Michael Moore's inflammatory anti-invasion film, Voices of Iraq is flawed and cannot claim to be as impartial or unbiased as it would like, simply because the people speaking on it are Iraqis. We have no way of knowing how it was edited - certainly there is no claim to have used a sociologically sound sampling method and to do so would possibly have made uninteresting viewing, but to suggest it was 'made' by the people of Iraq is disingenuous. Whilst the footage was shot by Iraqis, the editing, and hence any message to be distilled from that large amount of film, was done by an ex marine and his two NY colleagues with MTV experience.
Voices of Iraq fills a necessary hole in our understanding as long as it is not viewed unquestioningly. It enables you to feel warmer towards Iraqis as people. If it does 'support the position of the Bush administration' (as some have claimed) that's not sufficient reason to dismiss it.
At the Edinburgh International Film Festival UK premiere, Voices of Iraq was screened with a short called, 'Where is Iraq', which likewise has informal interviews with Iraqis, filmed by an Iraqi-Canadian. It provided some balance (as there were more anti-American views than pro) but itself suffered from the same problem - that if you interview enough people you will get the views you want.
Whatever your feelings about Iraq, it is still a country of real people, individuals like you or me. Voices of Iraq brings that a little bit closer.