The BBC Middle East news pages claim that 10,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed since a US-led coalition launched a campaign against it nine months ago (according to the US government).
Earlier today I was chatting to some young pro-Assad Syrian ex-pats who believe America have in fact been financing IS, as a way of softening up the Middle East for the next big push.
I was in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan earlier this year doing some filming with a Christian band raising awareness about the plight of Christians fleeing IS. During our six day stay we spent a lot of time getting permissions from the Peshmerga and ministries of state. Even though IS controlled Mosul is just 50 miles North West of Erbil, one local man described life as 'normal'.
I'm not really a journalist - I was a news photographer for 20 years, now working in feature films. The purpose of reviewing, however messily, Eugene's Rogan's impressive book: 'The Arabs - A History' is to research a film I have in development
It's a big book, over 600 pages long and I plan to not so much review it here as to experience it. There will be some asides to garnish the information.
Part of me recoils from this exercise, largely because it is so self-indulgent, self-serving and bourgeoise. Part me me recoils from complacency of Brighton, where I live, with all its first-world problems. It can be difficult to embrace the good life we have when you know a few hours away horrific things are taking place.
Morgan Spurlock's 'Super Size Me' set out to bring McDonald's to account about the poor lifestyle choices it encouraged (allegedly - don't sue me). He was nominated for an Oscar and the film made $30m. He did the One Direction documentary in 2013. Sarcasm and mockery aside, Spurlock's altrusim is questionable in retrospect. Did he really want to save the world from harmful fast-food or was he all about the money? We'll never know. Art always fails one way or another but putting it out there does at least show how far short we've fallen. I think that's the point - to inspire those who follow us to do better.
Anyway, I'm not sure what all that was about. It's getting late and I haven't even read the first page of Rogan's tome. What I'm hoping is that it will inspire me to make a film about the middle-east that shows some knowledge of the region's history. At the end of the day, all films can do is entertain and make a few people some money. For me, its OK for a film to address contemporary issues with a bit of laissez-faire if it can remind people that life without love is meaningless. We are here to love each other and its not always easy.
The imagination must be given its head because it transcends logic and unites us with it's anarchic, preposterous creations and their unknowable origins. When writing about darker subjects what comes out of the subconscious is neither right nor wrong: it is what is it. It could even be who or what we are. Making a film about the middle-east, through the lens of the subconscious is a frightening prospect, but in the absence of reliable intelligence or consensus, we can only imagine what's going on in this crazy world of ours.
On Reading Eugene's Rogan's: 'The Arabs - A History'
INTRODUCTION
On Valentine's Day 2005, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was killed by a car bomb in Beirut. He'd left himself open to corruption charges while rebuilding downtown Beirut (he was also a building contractor).
Hariri resigned as PM because he was sick of Syria interfering with Lebanon's politics.
Earlier today I was chatting to some young pro-Assad Syrian ex-pats who believe America have in fact been financing IS, as a way of softening up the Middle East for the next big push.
I was in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan earlier this year doing some filming with a Christian band raising awareness about the plight of Christians fleeing IS. During our six day stay we spent a lot of time getting permissions from the Peshmerga and ministries of state. Even though IS controlled Mosul is just 50 miles North West of Erbil, one local man described life as 'normal'.
 |
| Me in Erbil earlier this year. |
It's a big book, over 600 pages long and I plan to not so much review it here as to experience it. There will be some asides to garnish the information.
Part of me recoils from this exercise, largely because it is so self-indulgent, self-serving and bourgeoise. Part me me recoils from complacency of Brighton, where I live, with all its first-world problems. It can be difficult to embrace the good life we have when you know a few hours away horrific things are taking place.
Morgan Spurlock's 'Super Size Me' set out to bring McDonald's to account about the poor lifestyle choices it encouraged (allegedly - don't sue me). He was nominated for an Oscar and the film made $30m. He did the One Direction documentary in 2013. Sarcasm and mockery aside, Spurlock's altrusim is questionable in retrospect. Did he really want to save the world from harmful fast-food or was he all about the money? We'll never know. Art always fails one way or another but putting it out there does at least show how far short we've fallen. I think that's the point - to inspire those who follow us to do better.
Anyway, I'm not sure what all that was about. It's getting late and I haven't even read the first page of Rogan's tome. What I'm hoping is that it will inspire me to make a film about the middle-east that shows some knowledge of the region's history. At the end of the day, all films can do is entertain and make a few people some money. For me, its OK for a film to address contemporary issues with a bit of laissez-faire if it can remind people that life without love is meaningless. We are here to love each other and its not always easy.
The imagination must be given its head because it transcends logic and unites us with it's anarchic, preposterous creations and their unknowable origins. When writing about darker subjects what comes out of the subconscious is neither right nor wrong: it is what is it. It could even be who or what we are. Making a film about the middle-east, through the lens of the subconscious is a frightening prospect, but in the absence of reliable intelligence or consensus, we can only imagine what's going on in this crazy world of ours.
On Reading Eugene's Rogan's: 'The Arabs - A History'
INTRODUCTION
On Valentine's Day 2005, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was killed by a car bomb in Beirut. He'd left himself open to corruption charges while rebuilding downtown Beirut (he was also a building contractor).
Hariri resigned as PM because he was sick of Syria interfering with Lebanon's politics.
No comments:
Post a Comment