almost there is a 2014 independent documentary film , produced by kartemquin films .

it was directed by aaron wickenden and dan rybicky .

the film delivered a central pitch at the 2013 international documentary film festival amsterdam forum .

it later premiered at doc nyc and sheffield doc/fest , followed by official selections at film festivals around the world .

it has received coverage in the new york times , chicago tribune , the village voice , and many other outlets .

almost there was nominated for the 2016 cinema eye honors spotlight award .

it was recently acquired for distribution by factory 25 .

almost there ( film )

there are no featured audience reviews yet . click the link below to see what others say about almost there !
almost there tells the story of three men in search for meaning and happiness in the autumn of their lives .
the observational documentary meets the observer effect in almost there as filmmakers chronicle how their solitary subject is changed by their own scrutiny .
“ almost there poignantly tells the tale of community , responsibility , aging , and art . ” – pamela powell , reel honest reviews
watch trailers , read customer and critic reviews , and buy almost there directed by aaron wickenden & dan rybicky for $ 14 . 99 .
there are no security measures discussed or implied before entering the burrow in the film .
almost there
has some extraordinarily fine elements , but its big reveal destroyed all the goodwill it expected i would feel by film ' s end . your mileage may vary .
in its most effective segment , “almost there” explores the ramifications of this discovery and how better due diligence could have led to this information much earlier . there’s a power to this section that makes the viewer vibrate with rage and uncertainty . rybicky and wickenden ask the right questions of their interviewees , their subject and of themselves . and then , almost as suddenly as it was raised , the issue nonchalantly falls by the wayside as “almost there” works its way to its warm , fuzzy finale .
doc nyc , big sky documentary film festival , big muddy film festival , true false film festival , geneva film festival , cleveland international film festival , sebastopol film festival , midwest independent film festival , wisconsin film festival , sarasota film festival , minneapolis st . paul international film festival , arizona international film festival , sheffield doc / fest , nantucket film festival , indy film fest , southern circuit tour of independent filmmakers , middlebury new filmmakers festival , ebs international documentary festival – eidf , camden international film festival , big eddy film festival , milwaukee film festival , if film festival – louisville , dallas videofest , santa fe independent film festival , indie memphis film festival , driftless film festival , cork film festival , houston cinema arts festival , bisbee film festival
“i think as a journalist — i don’t think as a filmmaker , ” one interviewee says , almost off - handedly , late into “ almost there . ” this first feature from dan rybicky and aaron wickenden demonstrates that these documentary filmmakers might do well to think more like journalists sometimes .
almost there theatrical release | digital | vod catalog no . : ftf - 062 | in theaters : december | directors : aaron wickenden and dan rybicky | length : 93 minutes | year : 2015
“ almost there reveals how an individual can connect with others and follow his artistic obsessions despite adversity , even ( or especially ) if that adversity is himself . ” – laura adamczyk , the university of chicago magazine
zacharias smith does a commentary during the quidditch match in the book , while there is no commentary during it in the film .
there is no sign of any pamphlet showing the safety measures issued by the ministry .
the film follows the two filmmakers’ discovery of “outsider” artist peter anton , whose rundown home houses an impressive collection of unseen and fascinating artwork . “almost there” premiered at doc nyc 2014 and was an audience favorite at true / false 2015 and sheffield doc / fest 2015 .
house - elf kreacher and the hippogriff buckbeak are omitted from the film , and there is no mention of hagrid getting buckbeak back .
john bailey , “let there be light : john huston’s journey into psychic darkness” —online here .
now , there’s almost there , a poignant , humane , sharp - eyed look at peter anton , a miserable wretch of a man at the end of his life , toiling away in his parents’ home in east chicago , indiana . filmmakers dan rybicky and aaron wickenden ( the film was executive produced by justine nagan who recently took over as executive director of pov ) enter anton’s mold - infested shanty of a house to discover a treasure of paintings , drawings and , most important , a series of scrapbooks entitled “almost there , ” that tell — through paintings , pictures and words — of anton’s life of disappointment .
the resulting essay - documentary ,
almost there ,
returns friday for a weeklong run at the siskel film center . it ' s an intriguing , narratively unpredictable work embracing a hornet ' s nest of ethical issues , some of which remain unresolved , many of which limit the movie . they ' re also what make it interesting . so there ' s another ethical dilemma for you .
a great film critic recently explained to me that the two - and - a - half star rating is appropriate when there are many elements of a film that one loves , but also several bad elements that one cannot reconcile . if one feels more strongly about the latter , the most honest thing to do is choose the 2 - 1 / 2 star grade . “almost there” has some extraordinarily fine elements , but its big reveal destroyed all the goodwill it expected i would feel by film’s end . your mileage may vary .
“we want so badly for artists to be geniuses whose lives we can only dream of emulating . almost there paints a different , more down - to - earth picture . art is rarely made in a vacuum , no matter how remote or isolated the artist’s environment is . ” – dmitry samarov , rust belt magazine
chicago musician ken goldstein had his mind changed about a steel mill . there ' s now a song and a movie .
there is no mention of crabbe and goyle using polyjuice potion and standing guard for malfoy outside of the room of requirement .
in 2006 , rybicky and wickenden met anton at a pierogi festival . his sketched portraits of festival attendees attracted the duo’s attention , but a scrapbook of anton’s work pulled them into his orbit . entitled “almost there , ” the scrapbook is part of a 12 - book autobiography and is filled with sketches , sayings and other minutiae that anton sought to include . on page 657 of the “almost there” series , anton wrote “ one of the final goals of my life is to tell my story . it may be left to others to do so . ” in 2008 , rybicky and wickenden became anton’s co - conspirators in relaying his story to the general public .
igor karkaroff ' s murder is not mentioned in the film . however there is an image in harry potter limited edition of a daily prophet article talking about karkaroff ' s murder . [ 77 ]
i couldn’t continue on that same path ; i remained trapped inside the messiness of the film’s big secret , especially in light of the difficult questions it raises regarding the separation of an artist’s actions from their art . that’s a fascinating , loaded topic , one that deserves more time than “almost there” can handle without harshing the viewer’s mellow . i sensed the film wanted me to give a benefit of doubt that i simply could not give , and my emotions hardened with suspicion .
the film was the top grossing film at uk cinemas in 2009 , taking £50 . 7m , closely followed by avatar . - guardian
and yet . . . as the filmmakers work through their messy , messed - up place in the life story they ' re capturing , the film gathers a head of steam . you can almost sense rybicky and wickenden wising up , through the years , behind their own camera .
the artist , peter anton , had lived in his hoarder ' s nightmare of an east chicago childhood home since 1941 . in the vicinity of whatever cats happened to be living there at the time , he slept in a corner of the mold - infested basement . anton ' s magnum opus , an illustrated 12 - volume autobiography titled
almost there ,
caught the attention of wickenden and rybicky , who soon found anton had stories to tell , and stories behind the stories .
almost there goes a step further than the films listed above by doubling back on itself when the directors stumble on new information well into production , and they appear to have a crisis of conscience . how do they get through it ? partly by revealing rybicky’s personal connection to the subject matter , namely his own family’s history of mental illness and dysfunction .
almost there is one of the best documentaries of the year ; a lack of buzz and its late release , last week , might preclude it from landing on some top ten lists of 2015 , but it will surely be making mine . if you’re in chicago or la , you can still catch it in a theater or else you can find it online here .
there was also no debate or meeting at headmaster ' s office between professors to discuss whether or not dumbledore would be buried on hogwarts grounds .
the christmas season shown in the film is a big contradiction on what the chapter ' s title is . there are no signs of snow outside the burrow and ginny ' s nightdress seems unfit for a frosty season .
in surveying this setting , one might think “almost there” is a documentary about impoverished , elderly folks who have sadly fallen through the cracks in the system . instead , it’s an uncomfortable journey through the later life of an artist , a warts - and - all look at the filmmakers’ process that fails to get past its most troublesome wart . herein lies the problem for me as your humble reviewer , for the filmmakers have asked that we not discuss the major revelation in “almost there ,
a revelation that colored my viewing experience to an irreconcilable degree . so i ' ll have to tap - dance around the elephant in the room . to be safe , i’ll issue a spoiler warning in case i’m not cryptic enough to keep viewers in the dark .
when returning from the cave , harry and dumbledore appear on high street in hogsmeade , where they encounter madam rosmerta ( absent from the film ) , who warns them that the dark mark has appeared over the astronomy tower . harry and dumbledore borrow her broomsticks and head up there . in the film , harry and dumbledore apparate there directly . there is a dark , uneasily tranquil feeling conveyed as views of various parts of the school are shown , as though something bad would happen at any moment . however , the dark mark is not cast over the school until after dumbledore ' s death .
there is no mention of how the weasleys were able to open the store because of the winning prize of the triwizard tournament held two years before .
the entire village of budleigh babberton is recreated from the book , including the old war memorial . there is a pub called babberton arms in the background .
diagon alley is almost completely boarded up and vacated . the only life to be seen comes from weasleys ' wizard wheezes joke shop . the
u - no - poo
posters are not mentioned ( though the product is shown in the background , and was created as promotional material for the film ) . however , there is a statuesque , moving sign of one of the weasley twins ' lifting a top hat to reveal a rabbit . the sign is over a story tall .
almost there displays the vulnerability of both filmmaker and subject in such a way that process and product are woven together . as directors rybicky and wickendon unravel peter anton’s past , they allow themselves to become vulnerable to the audience as well , thus painting a complex portrait of the relationship between filmmaker and subject , art and life , and the joy of coming up from being down . ” – amy lee ketchum , tiny mix tapes
the film doesn ' t show harry questioning dumbledore as to why he trusted snape .
in the film , the memory of the wool ' s orphanage doesn’t include talks of tom riddle hurting kids at the cave , of which only a crude picture is shown taped up on riddle ' s bedroom wall . however , there is a deleted scene where dumbledore tells harry about tom doing so when they are at the cave ' s entrance later in the film .
safety measures issued by the ministry and about the inferi were not discussed throughout the entire film .
in the book , the felix felicis is gold . in the film , it is clear .
what was almost unprecedented in let there be light was its reliance on unscripted interviews , something common in documentaries only after the mid - 1950s with direct cinema , cinema vérité , and the british free cinema movements . when the film was finally released in 1980 , however , the prints—reportedly 16mm reductions from the 35mm original—were so poor that the los angeles times reviewer could describe “lighting as flat and nasty as the inside of a phone booth . ” the soundtrack was also garbled , and thus the film’s most innovative and affecting side—its live dialogue—was frustratingly incomprehensible . it’s only now that the soundtrack restoration fully conveys these moving interviews , with men who often initially can only mumble or whisper their stories .
there’s a compelling strain of documentary film that lifts the lid on outsider artists who work in the shadows . 1994’s crumb , about r . crumb , who certainly had some measure of success before terry zwigoff’s film , set the mold . a decade later , in the realms of the unreal ( pov 2005 ) took the form to a higher level by animating the work of artist henry darger . the devil and daniel johnston , about a manic depressive musician followed a year later and , more recently , among others , there’s been marwencol and art and craft ( pov 2015 ) .
almost there
exists on the other end of the doc spectrum . the filmmakers , on camera and often self - consciously , argue with anton , bring him to tears , confront his exasperating qualities and then keep on filming . at one point , fed up with anton ' s wheedling demands , we hear rybicky say that it was time for he and wickenden to recede .
we stepped back to film what would happen ,
he says ,
and hoped for the best .
at such moments it ' s hard not to look at anton ' s chroniclers as genial stumblebums .
the show is a success . we see anton playfully interacting with visitors and reuniting with some of his old neighbors . the film is half - over , and uplift is already in the air . then “almost there” lowers the boom on us . here’s where i must tread lightly . one of intuit’s visitors is olga briseno , the editor of the times of northwest indiana . fascinated by the rapport anton has with the people who knew him , she figures he’s a local celebrity . so she digs into her archives to find stories on peter anton . what she finds is so unpleasant it stuns the filmmakers .
there ' s not a documentary filmmaker alive ( or dead ) who didn ' t face a moral dilemma , or a hundred of them , in the course of their field work . a camera changes everything . even the most observantly self - effacing of directors , such as frederick wiseman , affects the social experiment of whatever he ' s filming simply by being there , watching , filming .
let there be light was huston’s third and final war documentary , after report from the aleutians ( 1943 ; viewable through the internet archive at this link ) and the harrowing combat film battle of san pietro ( 1945 ; featured in the nfpf’s first treasures dvd anthology ) . john huston narrated the first two himself , but called upon his father , the actor walter huston , for let there be light . the noir touches at the opening of this documentary may look out of place , but it’s worth remembering that hollywood’s film noirs often center on the traumas of veterans returning home . huston’s second film after the war , key largo , with bogart as the returning veteran , worked with the pattern .
in the film , draco ' s reluctance to go with the death eaters is much more obvious .
there was a petal , floating on the surface , which gradually sank and turned into a fish just as it reached the bottom . the fish was named francis . slughorn discovered that the fish disappeared the day lily evans died . in the book , however , there is no mention of the present ; harry brings up the topic of his parents ' death after hagrid mentions them just before falling asleep .
film showing the bayshore amusement park in its heyday , preserved by the maryland historical society with nfpf support .
aragog ' s size appears smaller than described and shown in both the books and the second film adaptation .
when ron is brought to slughorn ' s office , slughorn mistakenly refers to him as
wemby
in the film . in the book , slughorn calls him
ralph
. also in the book , slughorn later tells harry that he has had every bottle tested by a house elf since ron ' s incident , mistakenly referring to ron as
rupert ,
likely a reference to the actor who plays ron in the film series , rupert grint . there is no mention of any precautionary measures taken by slughorn in the film .
much of the first chapter has been omitted . this includes cornelius fudge discussing the murders , hurricanes , and bridge collapses that have been going on to the muggle prime minister , as well as the former ' s resignation as minister of magic , and rufus scrimgeour introducing himself to the latter . however , there is still a minor reference in the daily prophet at the beginning of the film that mentions there is a new minister for magic . the film instead begins with bellatrix ' s final line (
i killed sirius black !
) from the previous film echoing as harry is seen standing in front of a mob of reporters , with their cameras flashing , when dumbledore begins to lead harry away . the scene then cuts to the bridge attack .
after harry is told to take professor slughorn ' s potions class , he and ron immediately head there in the film . in the book , the potions class is later in the day , with harry , hermione , and ron doing other things , including a defence against the dark arts class , before heading to potions .
the duel is longer and more intense in the film . in the book , malfoy turns around and attacks , and harry almost immediately uses sectumsempra after the two of them cast about two spells each at each other . in the film , harry and malfoy shoot several spells at each other , hide behind stalls and shoot spells at each other underneath the stalls , run around the stalls while shooting spells at each other and finally harry uses sectumsempra on draco when he sees him standing on the other side of the bathroom , directly after coming out from under cover .
about the restoration the soundtrack of let there be light was restored by chace audio by deluxe . chace ' s services were donated through the nfpf grant program and awarded to the national archives and records administration in 2006 .
on january 2nd , 2009 , websites reported that the film had been rated
pg
by the mpaa , for scary images , some violence , language and mild sensuality . this is the first and only time since the third film that a harry potter film has been rated pg , although in britain it is a 12a .
bill weasley does not appear in the film , much less get bitten by fenrir greyback as he does in the book . however , in the next film , he is shown bearing scars from being attacked by greyback . this creates a plot hole in the next film since it is unknown where , how and when the scarring happened .
in the 1980s , critics and academics were quick to condescend to what struck many as let there be light ’s sadly old - fashioned documentary form . but such critiques may have dated more rapidly than huston’s film . in that decade , authenticity in documentary was still judged by resemblance to the gritty , handheld look of cinema vérité . now that more elegant interview styles have returned to documentary—most inventively those from errol morris—huston’s work can be judged by broader standards . the hollywood gloss of let there be light honors the service of psychologically wounded soldiers of world war ii by giving their life stories all the careful attention of a studio production . has a u . s . government film ever conveyed more emotion ? john huston’s own verdict , looking back over his career , was that let there be light was “the most hopeful and optimistic and even joyous thing i ever had a hand in . ” —scott simmon , uc davis
factory 25 and the production company kartemquin will premiere the film theatrically on december 4 in nyc and december 11 in la . the film will be available to stream on fandor starting december 5 , followed by a full vod release .
pansy parkinson sits beside blaise and across from draco in the film , rather than beside draco , stroking his hair . very little of her as well as her relationship with draco is seen in the film series as a whole .
harry potter and the half - blood prince is a 2009 film based on the sixth novel by j . k . rowling . it is the sixth film in the harry potter film series . david yates , the director of the fifth film , harry potter and the order of the phoenix , directed this film . david heyman and david barron produced , [ 3 ] and steve kloves , though he did not write the fifth film , has returned as screenwriter for this instalment . [ 4 ] filming began on september 24 , 2007 . the film was released in the uk , canada and us on july 15 , 2009 in regular theatres , and an imax 3 - d release on july 29 , 2009 . [ 5 ] [ 4 ] [ 6 ] unlike the previous film , the sixth film was released in regular theatres on july 15 and imax 3 - d on july 29 because of the imax release of transformers : revenge of the fallen . [ 7 ] the film was chosen to be screened at the royal film performance on november 17 , 2008 , but due to the date of release being pushed back , it was not shown . on january 2 , 2009 , the film received a pg rating in the usa . on july 7 , 2009 , at the world film premiere of harry potter and the half - blood prince in london , the cast and crew all wore white ribbons in memory and tribute of 18 - year - old british actor and co - star robert knox . knox , who played marcus belby in the film , was stabbed to death on may 24 , 2008 .
in the book horace slughorn was said to have a big silver moustache like a walrus and was supposed to be quite large , both are changed for the film . in the film , he does not have a moustache , and is only slightly chubby . additionally , slughorn is portrayed as a soft - spoken , senile man in the film .
since the slug club meets later in the film , harry goes right to spy on draco when leaving his compartment .
in the 1950s , when he resembled a wannabe dave garroway or steve allen , anton ran the calumet region talent club , a showcase for local fledgling tap - dancers , fire - eaters , what have you . his dreams of show business glory never came true . at one point anton sings a bit of
i ' m always chasing rainbows ,
a theme picked up by composer joshua abrams ' original score . by the end of
almost there ,
a kartemquin films project , the rainbows have changed but for anton , now in his mid - 80s , they ' ve become attainable .
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in the book , leanne is crying when she tells mcgonagall about what happened , but in the film she is calm .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
but that’s just to say that the film is brave enough to reveal its own seams , and it is , overall , the stronger for it . it’s a powerful and honest film about art , family , aging and , heck , being human .
there is no scene where the owls bring the examination results ; the first reference to harry ' s exam results comes when professor mcgonagall informs him ( in the hogwarts corridor ) that he may take potions as he had exceeded expectations in this subject .
john huston’s world war ii documentary let there be light is so legendary for its censorship controversy that its sheer power as a film has been easy to miss . produced by the u . s . army in 1945 , it pioneered unscripted interview techniques to take an unprecedented look into the psychological wounds of war . however , by the time the film was first allowed a public screening—in december 1980—its remarkable innovations in style and subject , which in the 1940s were at least a decade ahead of their time , could be taken as old hat , especially because of the poor quality of then - available prints . this new restoration finally reveals the film’s full force .
in the book , harry follows blaise zabini into the slytherin ' s car , while under his invisibility cloak . in the film , harry uses peruvian instant darkness powder , creating a thick , dark cloud of smoke to engulf the coach , while he climbs undetected onto the luggage rack , and remains there under his cloak for the duration of the journey , as he does in the book .
as the scene with fudge and the muggle prime minister is not featured in the film , after the kidnapping is shown , the film cuts to harry reading a copy of the daily prophet in a muggle café located along surbiton station , then leaves it on the table when he sees professor dumbledore outside . also , the muggle waitress at the cafe flirts with harry and asks about the newspaper he reads in the film . this scene is entirely unique to the film , and harry does not appear until later in the book .
to download a copy of the film ( mp4 , 1 . 2 gb ) , right - click here and save to computer .
the 22 months between start of filming and release of the film was by far the longest interval in the series to date and was in fact several months longer than the equally protracted schedule for the 2009 star trek film , which began production several months after hbp but was released several months before hbp . at one point the film was scheduled for a late 2008 release , but this was pushed back .
the army was evidently feeling some pressure throughout 1946 and responded in a revealing way—more revealing indeed than the mere suppression of huston’s documentary . in early 1947 it commissioned essentially a remake , a film that would copy many of the situations , scenes , and even camera movements of let there be light but this time with actors impersonating the returning soldiers . the assignment went to journeyman director joseph henabery ( who had assisted d . w . griffith—and played lincoln—in the birth of a nation in 1915 ) . his instructions were to produce the neuro - psychiatric problem in the army , which was retitled shades of gray when it was released in january 1948 . notwithstanding an army spokesman who announced that the new film was “definitely not connected in any way with let there be light , ” henabery and his producers seem to have seldom taken their eyes off the original . the actors clearly used the interviews in let there be light as models—and few impersonations are more ludicrous than their versions of the verbal tics and physical symptoms of the real soldiers . copied closely too are the scenes of hypnotism and of hysterical paralysis .
narrated by mr . rybicky and its subject , an outsider artist named peter anton , “almost there” opens with the filmmakers discovering mr . anton at a pierogi festival they’re shooting in whiting , ind . , in 2005 . here , mr . anton is seen drawing rudimentary but sincere portraits of town folk . ( the movie takes the value of outsider art as a given , which might be a stumbling block for viewers who don’t . ) mr . rybicky and mr . wickenden find out this artist has a huge stash of wide - ranging material in a crumbling , hazardous house in east chicago , ind . for a while , the movie feels like an episode of “ hoarders ” inflected with a hipster aesthetic .
opens : friday and continues through thurs . dec . 17 at gene siskel film center , 164 n . state st . ; urltoken .
oulsnam , alex ( 2007 - 11 - 22 ) .
potter film role for ashley
, kentish express , p . 22 .
for many , peter anton’s house embodies an end - of - life nightmare : the utility companies long ago shut off the heat and electricity , the floorboards are rotting , and the detritus of a chaotic life is precariously stacked to the ceiling . but for the filmmakers dan rybicky and aaron wickenden , anton’s home is a treasure trove , a startling collection of unseen and fascinating paintings , drawings , and notebooks , not to mention anton himself , a character worthy of his own reality tv show . though aging , infirm , cranky , and solitary , anton also is funny and utterly resilient . the film’s remarkable journey follows a gifted artist through startling twists and turns . by its quietly satisfying ending , almost there has provided enough human drama for a season of soap operas , plus insights into mental illness , aging in america , and the redemptive power of art .
in the film , harry , hermione , and ron are not seen back at the burrow after spying on draco . instead , they are next seen on the train , and it is here that they discuss what draco may have been doing at borkin and burkes in the film .
with the film’s picture restoration , its visual qualities too are more evident . indeed , it is crafted and lit like a polished hollywood feature—unsurprisingly , with stanley cortez as lead cinematographer , fresh from shooting evocatively dark domestic interiors for the magnificent ambersons and since you went away . although let there be light takes its title from the king james bible ( genesis 1 : 3 ) , that title also suggests the visual representation of the film’s narrative arc : away from shadowy , noir - inflected shots of gangplanks and hospital corridors and toward sunlit baseball diamonds and grassy fields .
harry potter and the half - blood prince won the 2007 urltoken award for film you
can ' t wait for .
[ 83 ]
furthermore , the role of bellatrix lestrange has been greatly expanded in the film . in the book , she does not fight in the battle of the astronomy tower or witness dumbledore ' s death . upon witnessing it in the film , she reacts by destroying everything with sadistic glee and delight .
john huston’s discussion of let there be light comes primarily from his autobiography , an open book ( new york : alfred a . knopf , 1980 ) , and interviews in gerald pratley’s the cinema of john huston ( cranbury , n . j : a . s . barnes , 1977 ) .
anton’s tour of his decades of artwork inspires the documentarians to look into exhibiting several pieces at the intuit center . intuit specializes in “outsider art ,
a sub - genre that focuses on art done by those outside the cultural mainstream . “ most of the people whose art we exhibit are dead , ” says cleo wilson , intuit’s executive director . so she’s excited to present a living artist like peter anton , who’s still around to speak for his work . the exhibit will serve as the next chapter in the life of a man who once ran a talent group whose young entertainers put on over 1 , 000 shows over a 20 - year period . we meet several of these children in “almost there ,
some of whom are in the paintings intuit exhibits .
as the filmmakers work through their messy , messed - up place in the life story they ' re capturing , the film gathers a head of steam .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
in the film , harry is never mentioned to have inherited grimmauld place or kreacher after sirius black ' s death , as he did in the book .
in the book , harry arrives at the burrow around 1 : 00 a . m . , after ron and hermione have gone to bed , and they don ' t see him until the next morning . in the film , it is unclear exactly when he arrives there ( although obviously before so late ) . while it is dark when harry arrives , ron , hermione , and ginny are all still awake and go to welcome harry when he enters the burrow .
though the inferi in the book climb out of the lake and attempt to drag harry back in with them , they actually pull him underwater in the film .
in the novel , it says that a bright green light hit dumbledore ( avada kedavra ) , while in the film , its more of a cyan colour .
there is much less conversation between draco and snape . snape only mentions to draco that he has made an unbreakable vow , then draco emphasised that he doesn ' t need protection . harry eavesdrops on the conversation , like in the book , but rather than using his invisibility cloak , he just hides around a corner .
in the film , at breakfast before the first quidditch match , luna lovegood , not hermione , notices harry faking to slip felix felicis into ron ' s drink .
the film omits the details that fenrir greyback is a werewolf , and also the part of lupin mentioning that greyback was the one who turned him into a werewolf .
for many , peter anton ' s house embodies an end - of - life nightmare : the utility companies long ago shut off the heat and electricity , the floorboards are rotting , and the detritus of a chaotic life is precariously stacked to the ceiling . but for the filmmakers , anton ' s home contains a startling collection of unseen and fascinating paintings , drawings and illustrated manuscripts ; not to mention anton himself , a funny and utterly resilient character . determined to form a coherent future out of a fractured past , they set out together to host an exhibition of the old artworks at america ' s leading
outsider art
museum . the film ' s self reflective odyssey follows a gifted artist over years of startling twists and turns that compel him to face a dark chapter from his past and the filmmakers to face their motivations . almost there is about what it means to grow old in america , how this process can be complicated by mental illness , and how the whole bizarre panoply of life can be redeemed by art .
however , the goal of let there be light —to educate viewers about psychological wounds—failed with its initial audience : the army brass who watched it and then forbade its release . the film itself had tried to prevent such a response by including one doctor’s warning to a group - therapy session : “undoubtedly there will be people on the outside who won’t have any understanding of the condition , who may think of it as being a rather shameful condition . that’s why we’re having an educational program , trying to educate the public into understanding . ” huston handcarried a print to washington in february 1946 and got the impression that release was greenlighted for later that month . but an army public relations group convinced the war department to issue an order in march 1946 restricting screenings to a handful of army hospitals and a few overseas military venues . as huston remembered ,
we hope you will enjoy the following film . please consider making a donation so that we can continue preserving films and presenting them on our web site . thank you !
the discussion between harry and hermione inside the hogwarts library is included . romilda vane was introduced but she does not speak . madam pince is not present in the film .
harry , slughorn , and hagrid sing a song while drinking after mourning aragog . in the film , this scene is shortened , and only the final verse is heard .
in the book , dumbledore drinks about three cups of the potion before falling prey to its effects . in the film , he starts reacting after his first drink . in the book , the potion eventually causes him to faint , but in the film , while suffering badly from the potion , he manages to remain concious the entire time .
in the book , dumbledore is left in a considerably weakened state after drinking the potion , which continues up to his death . this is less evident in the film .
dumbledore ' s speech in the book explicitly states that lord voldemort is once again at large , and advises everyone to be careful and report any suspicious acts . in the film , however , he is more subtle , explaining that there was once a boy who attended the school , appearing to be a student like any other . the name voldemort is not spoken , instead dumbledore says this boy was named tom riddle , but is currently known around the world by another name . he goes on to state that , while at any moment there are dark forces attempting to enter the castle ,
. . . in the end , their greatest weapon is you . . .
dumbledore says that is something to think about , and , as in the book , he concludes with a rather cheerful
now off to bed , pip pip !
rybicky and wickenden travel to anton’s home in east chicago , indiana to see more of his work . “ east chicago is the type of place you’d drive pass , but never into , ” we’re told . images of east chicago’s poverty accompany this narration , but fail to prepare us for the state of anton’s house . anton’s rationale for staying is understandable despite the filmmakers’ concern for his safety : he is very big on the notion of “home” , and this building has defined it for over 50 years . additionally , he has a small group of friends who look in on him , and they ' ve remained with him through extremely tough times . we meet some of these people as “almost there” progresses , and we also learn why they stay by anton’s side despite his irascible , sometimes confrontational personality . we also gradually start to see parallels between the lives of the filmmakers and anton .
mrs cole taking dumbledore into her room to talk about tom riddle is omitted . but the former and latter are seen walking up the stairs and on tom ' s floor where she tells dumbledore that in all the years tom was in the orphanage he never once had a family visitor and that there had been nasty incidents with the other children .
in the film , the spell lumos maxima is shown again , this time as a glowing ball of light that could be thrown rather than a more powerful version of lumos .
yates and heyman have noted that some of the events of harry potter and the deathly hallows may influence the script of the film , [ 12 ] and that there will not be as many memories in the film as in the book . yates noted :
we ' re making a decision right now to compress those a wee bit , but we ' ve still got some really cool ones .
[ 13 ] . steve kloves , who wrote the first four films , returned for the sixth adaptation . [ 14 ] rowling has read kloves ' script and crossed out a passage in which dumbledore recalls a past female love , penning in the margin
dumbledore is gay .
[ 15 ]
before david yates was officially chosen to direct the film , many others had been offered the job , and previous directors had expressed an interest in returning . alfonso cuarón , the director of the third film , stated he
would love to have the opportunity
to return . [ 8 ] goblet of fire director mike newell declined a spot to direct the fifth film , and was not approached for this one either . [ 9 ] terry gilliam was rowling ' s personal choice to direct philosopher ' s stone . however , when asked whether he would consider directing a later film , gilliam said ,
warner bros . had their chance the first time around , and they blew it .
[ 10 ]
yates has retained composer nicholas hooper , costume designer jany temime , visual effects supervisor tim burke , creature and make - up effects designer nick dudman , and special effects supervisor john richardson from the fifth film . [ 4 ] since february 2007 , stuart craig , the production designer of the first five films as well , has been designing sets , including the cave , and the astronomy tower , where the climax of the film takes place . [ 11 ] academy award nominated bruno delbonnel is the film ' s cinematographer . [ 4 ]
neither harper nor malfoy are seen playing on slytherin ' s team in the film , though since only part of the match was shown , they could have simply been off camera .
the film doesn ' t show harry being admitted to the hospital wing , due to the absence of the quidditch match and mclaggen having knocked him off his broom with the bludger .
in the film , draco shows dumbledore that he has been branded with the dark mark , whereas in the book this is only an assumption by harry , with no solid proof .
this is the only film in the series ( except deathly hallows part 2 ) that shows us events from the previous book ( the first scene at the ministry of magic ) .
there has been an additional scene in the film which has no book equivalent . the burrow is attacked by death eaters during the christmas holidays . bellatrix lestrange and fenrir greyback are the only death eaters shown . greyback flies and lands in a ball of flame and casts a ring of fire around the burrow ( possibly fiendfyre , as the flames are quite large and take the form of a serpent ) . lestrange lands in black smoke and taunts harry , chanting
i killed sirius black ! i killed sirius black !
harry takes off after her in rage . ginny takes off after him , trying to stop him . lupin , tonks , and arthur weasley follow them into the grassy marsh . while the five are lost in the field , looking for the death eaters , the death eaters take off and set the burrow aflame , burning it presumably to the ground , before leaving . there is no further mention in the film of how the home is restored or what happened to it afterwards . the burrow was supposed to be protected against the death eaters , and they simply set fire to it with no effort . by the time harry returns to it in the film adaptation harry potter and the deathly hallows : part 1 , the burrow had already been rebuilt .
in the film , ron mutters hermione ' s name while unconscious at the hospital wing with harry , hermione , lavender , ginny , dumbledore , mcgonagall , pomfrey , slughorn , and snape present , and lavender runs off in tears . this is how ron and lavender break up in the film , and is the first time lavender ' s name is mentioned in full .
in the book , snape reacts with livid emotion when harry calls him a coward . however in the film , although harry hurls this same insult at snape , he does not react .
helen mccrory who plays the role of narcissa malfoy in this film , was originally chosen to play bellatrix lestrange in the fifth film , harry potter and the order of the phoenix . but she had to back out of the role due to her sudden pregnancy , so she ended up getting this role instead , while helena bonham carter was cast as bellatrix in her place .
carroll , larry ( 2006 - 10 - 16 ) . terry gilliam on depp , ' potter ' and the film he panhandled to promote . mtv . retrieved on 2006 october 16 .
in the book , harry , ron , and hermione are the only gryffindor students to take slughorn ' s n . e . w . t . potions class . in the film , many other students are present in slughorn ' s class as well , including dean thomas , seamus finnigan , neville longbottom , padma patil , lavender brown , romilda vane , and katie bell , despite romilda and katie not even being in the same year as harry and the others . in the film , crabbe and goyle are in the class as well , despite the book specifically stating that they were not . pansy parkinson also appears , although in the novel there was one unspecified slytherin student in the class with draco malfoy , blaise zabini , and theodore nott .
the slytherin end of the hogwarts express is split into two sides , not compartments as had been seen in previous films . it looks like booths with a table in between them . there is no door to close as had been in previous films . the compartments where harry , ron , and hermione sit are similar to what was in previous films , with the sliding doors .
in the book , harry asks why they went to budleigh babberton , and dumbledore tells him that they are short on staff so they want to convince slughorn to return . in the film , harry does not ask , and when asked if he was curious as to why they went there , harry says that after all the years at hogwarts , he no longer bothers to question what they do anymore . dumbledore does not tell him anything about slughorn or them being short on staff , only telling him to draw his wand , and they proceed to enter the house .
the way harry is found is different in the film . in the book , tonks finds harry , stating that she did not see him leave the train and , knowing harry has his cloak , decided to double check the train . in the film , it is luna lovegood who finds harry with her spectrespecs , stating that she can see wrackspurts all over him . [ 78 ]


the boys from baghdad high , also known as baghdad high , is a british-american-french television documentary film .

it was first shown in the united kingdom at the 2007 sheffield doc/fest , before airing on bbc two on 8 january 2008 .

it also aired in many other countries including france , australia , the united states , canada , germany and the netherlands .

it documents the lives of four iraqi schoolboys of different religious or ethnic backgrounds over the course of one year in the form of a video diary .

the documentary was filmed by the boys themselves , who were given video cameras for the project .

directed and produced by ivan o'mahoney and laura winter of renegade pictures and storylabtv , for the united kingdom 's bbc , hbo in the united states , and the franco-german network arte , the boys from baghdad high was produced by alan hayling and karen o'connor for the bbc , hans robert eisenhauer for arte , and sheila nevins for hbo .

the boys from baghdad high received high viewership when it initially aired in the uk , and was reviewed favourably in the media .

it was named the best news and current affairs film at the european independent film festival , won the premier prize at the sandford st. martin trust awards , and was nominated for awards at two film festivals .

the documentary also received the radio times readers award , and a nomination for the amnesty international 2008 television documentary and docudrama uk media award .

the boys from baghdad high

the boys from baghdad high is a movie starring hayder khalid , mohammad raed , and anmar refat . four students from different religious backgrounds in baghdad document their final year in high school .
this world : the boys from baghdad high will be broadcast on tuesday 8 january 2007 at 2100 gmt on bbc two .
four students from different religious backgrounds in baghdad document their final year in high school .
bbc2 documentary the boys from baghdad high has won the premier prize at today ' s sandford st martin trust religious radio and tv awards .
baghdad high combines the video diaries of four iraqi teen boys during their 2006 - 07 senior year in the violence - fraught capital . the boys are religiously diverse “sons of mesopotamia” who look…
three documentaries :
baghdad high ,
this is not . . .
when i sat down to watch ivan o ' mahoney and laura winter ' s baghdad high – the boys of baghdad high in the united kingdom , where it was initially shown – i didn ' t know what to expect .
war - zone teens : hbo ' s baghdad high | l . a . weekly
mr . ali (
baghdad high
) : yeah , i ' m here .
winter gave the baghdad high school students personal video cameras with instructions to film the 2006 - 07 school year .
the boys were instructed not to endanger themselves by filming at sites of violence , but the movie nonetheless has moments of high tension .
ali , hayder , anmar and mohammed all attend baghdad ' s tariq bin ziad high school for boys . like students at any high school , they joke around , play soccer , listen to tupac shakur , and try to study .
but instead of dispatching camera crews to tail her subjects , winter let the teenagers film
baghdad high
themselves .
john f . burns and iraqi employees of the new york times contributed reporting from baghdad for this article , christine hauser contributed from mosul , and edward wong from najaf .
boys to baghdad by rory d . sheriff tickets , thu , oct 5 , 2017 at 10 : 00 pm | eventbrite
it’s back to school time . . . and a group of 17 - year - old boys are returning to the classroom for their last year in high school in the world’s most dangerous city—baghdad .
the director of the series , ivan o’mahoney , an award - winning dutch journalist whose hbo documentary “the boys from baghdad high” chronicled the lives of iraqi teenagers during the worst of the violence convulsing that country in 2006 , hopes the project may bring balance back to the debate .
rescued thai cave boys face a lifetime of trauma from their ordeal as traumatic memories could trigger fear . . .
as the city is torn apart by sectarian violence , the film follows their friendships to see whether they can survive . filmed by the four students themselves during the 2006 / 07 academic year , the boys from baghdad high offers a unique insight into ordinary iraqi lives .
sandford st martin trust ' s judging panel , chaired by former bbc head of religious broadcasting colin morris , said of the boys from baghdad high :
in this programme we saw the way faith breaks into secular life in the chaos of present day iraq .
the latest news from the oldest living culture , nitv delivers australian stories from an indigenous perspective .
the boys nod in agreement but in baghdad , the violence creeps in , affecting every aspect of life . it is difficult to concentrate on studying .
before a game held at the neutral site of barringer high school , shabazz high football coach darnell grant watches his team stretch prior to a game against east side high school . shabazz won the game , 37 - 8 .
baghdad has become one of the world ' s most dangerous cities , but on the first day of term at tariq bin ziad high school for boys , ali and his 17 - year - old friends have other concerns .
coming from different ethnic and religious backgrounds the boys showed that despite the war their daily preoccupations were much the same as those of teenage boys the world over – girlfriends , parents , sport , fashion , exams , music .
that is so sad . . . i feel so sorry for these boys .
if you think high school student dramas are played out , hbo’s planning to prove you wrong . tonight , they’ll showcase a class clown , an aspiring musician , a sports stud , and a lovelorn teen . but these aren’t your average high school teens—these are students of baghdad high .
' baghdad high ' depicts teen lives defined by war a new documentary features the stories of four boys in their senior year of high school in baghdad . the students — one kurdish , one christian , one shia and one mixed sunni and shia — shot footage of their families , friends and teachers to craft the documentary , a portrait of adolescence in a time of war .
and it ' s a very interesting glimpse into the life of these teenage boys in baghdad . thanks so much for joining us this afternoon . laura winter is the co - director of
baghdad high .
and we were joined also by ali , one of the teens who is featured in the film .
sifting through the footage from the eight original participants , o ' mahoney and winter settled on the four most engaging narratives . some of the boys , it turned out , were more inclined to introspection , and these were the boys the directors wanted : the ones who could give voice to the aura of anxiety that hangs over baghdad .
boys to baghdad by rory d . sheriff at porter sanford iii performing arts center | 97 . 1 the river events events - events | 97 . 1 the river
i hope these demented pedophiles burn in hell . those boys have been indelibly harmed .
several explosions broke out across baghdad on sunday morning , especially in the southwestern section of the city . american attack helicopters circled over the city center , and the roar of fighter jets could be heard from high above .
and so i asked him , well , where did you go to high school ? and he said , well , i went to tariq bin ziad high school for boys . and so i sent somebody there to go track down the principle of the school . and a wonderful relationship began from there .
ms . laura winter ( co - director ,
baghdad high
) : thank you . i ' m very happy to be here .
alex dimitriades and aden young star in the principal , a dramatic story of intrigue set against the backdrop of a boys’ high school in turmoil in south west sydney . picture : sbs
darius has another one of his episodes , and the boys struggle with helping him cool off .
rt from moscow delivers the latest news and current affairs from around the world including special reports and entertainment news .
boys attend a mass during easter celebrations at sacred heart catholic church in baghdad march 23 , 2008 . ( reuters / thaier al - sudani ) march 24 , 2008
back to school . . . alex dimitriades and aden young star in the principal , a dramatic story of intrigue set against the backdrop of a boys’ high school in turmoil in south west sydney .
so instead , winter and o ' mahoney arrived at the idea of giving cameras to a group of students at tariq bin ziad high school in baghdad . working remotely – they were not in iraq during filming – the directors arranged to have eight boys trained in filmmaking .
seeking high value whites , frank brings queensland into the competition for the first time with dylan rhymer ' s perky ssb from ballandean estate in granite belt .
but the greate prize was accorded to the boys from baghdad high , an accompte of four schoolboyes facing the difficulties that beset all such , in addition to studying for exams in the midst of cannonades , grenadoes , & ct , who altho’ divided in religione are yet firmly united in friendship — a signe of hope for our fall’n worlde .
peter scarlet , the creative director of the tribeca film festival , says
baghdad high
has an astonishing ability to penetrate a society mostly closed to the western world . the boys don ' t see iraq from the top down . they see it from the inside out , and their lenses follow the seismic – the execution of saddam hussein , for instance , or the implementation of a stifling new curfew – and the quotidian with equal ease .
baghdad high is hbo’s latest in a string of provocative and intimate iraq documentaries . it captures the senior year of four students from different religious and ethnic backgrounds : a kurd , a shia , a sunni , and a christian . as they enter their final year at the tariq bin zaid high school for boys in baghdad , the students are given video recording equipment and a crash course on filming and set out to chronicle their daily lives . the result is a captivating portrayal of a baghdad we rarely see , one that allows the american viewer to put a teenage face on the realities of the war .
a student listens in during parent / faculty night held in the school library at shabazz high .
the film follows four boys - one shiite , one christian , one kurd and one from a mixed sunni - shiite background - into their classrooms and homes .
6 . promoter of german economic expansion and the berlin - baghdad rai . . .
the boys spent their senior year in a baghdad high school filming their families , friends and teachers , often using the camera as a confessional for the frustrations of living through a war . today , we talk to one of the directors of the film , and with ali , one of the young men featured in the documentary .
department of pediatrics , al - kindy college of medicine , baghdad university , al - jadiryiah , po box 47188 , baghdad , iraq . malmendalawi @ urltoken
a cross - sectional study recruiting 1427 ( 46 . 1 % boys versus 53 . 9 % girls ) school aged students ( 6 - 12 years ) from 8 primary schools in baghdad during the period november 2001 to may 2002 . the bp readings were plotted adopting principles of the 1996 american task force on high blood pressure in children and adolescents .
rt from moscow delivers the latest news and current affairs from around the world including special reports and entertainment news , in english .
school boys cover their ears as they sit in a corner during clashes in baghdad ' s sadr city april 15 , 2008 . ( kareem raheem / reuters ) april 19 , 2008
baghdad high ivan o ' mahoney and laura winter © 2004–2018 alt film guide and / or author ( s ) . text not to be reproduced without prior written consent .
baghdad high
has four screenings between april 29 and may 3 at the tribeca film festival . for details , and other festival listings , visit www . tribecafilmfestival . org .
but
baghdad high
also traffics in hope : those unexpected moments when the boys are brought together , regardless of religion or cultural heritage . ali calls this
the times when people can be cool to each other
– when the camera picks up a friendly wrestling match or an uproarious prank .
alex dimitriades has grown up to become the principal of a high school in sbs’s new drama , the principal .
also in the 9pm hour , the second instalment of channel 4 ' s food show hugh ' s chicken run , fronted by hugh fearnley - whittingstall , scooped 3 . 3 million and a 13 % share ; while bbc2 documentary the boys from baghdad high - this world picked up 600 , 000 and a 3 % share between 9pm and 10 . 30pm .
the story of four iraqi boys - who are both friends and class mates - at school in one of the most dangerous cities on earth , baghdad . one boy is kurdish , one christian , one shia and one from a mixed sunni / shia background .
emo is short for “emotional hardcore” and its aesthetic sprang from the american punk music scene in the 1980s and has been remixed in baghdad over the last few years .
conclusion : the unsafe situation in iraq has led to high trauma exposure and a high prevalence rate of ptsd among male adolescents in baghdad . the study explored a number of factors that are associated with this increased rate . the data generated from this study may be of use to policy makers , people work in mental health care as well as practitioners in the field .
' baghdad high ' : ahead of its hbo première on aug . 4 , the documentary about four iraqi teens will air on cinema screens at this year ' s tribeca film festival .
night school andrew cohn’s documentary follows three adults working to earn their high school degrees in indianapolis .
all of iraq ' s high school students must take national exams to graduate . in the months running up to the exams there are two bombings at a baghdad university , killing scores of students .
right now , ask a teenage boy what he likes , and he might say rap music , cell phones , hanging out with friends , talking to his girlfriend . but what if all this takes place against a backdrop of gunfire , kidnappings and car bombs ? in the hbo documentary ,
baghdad high ,
two filmmakers gave video cameras to four teenage boys in baghdad .
this cross sectional study ( with an analytic element ) was conducted in baghdad city ( the capital of iraq ) during the period from february through may 2012 .
baghdad high has reached north america through hbo documentary films and will be airing on monday , august 4 at 9 pm . for more information , check out hbo ' s website .
headmaster raad jawad is acutely aware of how baghdad ' s violence affects morale . right from the opening day assembly he tries to motivate his 600 students .
arriving home at the flamingo , his sleek condo with views of the bay , packouz packed the cone of his volcano , a smokeless electronic bong . as the balloon inflated with vapors from the high - grade weed , he took a deep toke and felt the pressures of the day drift away into a crisp , clean high .
winter can already guess her reaction when she can finally meet one of the boys whose lives she watched for a year .
shot by an iraqi doctor , this film reveals the terrible conditions of an er in baghdad .
in the documentary the boys from baghdad high - this world , ivan o ' mahoney and laura winter had overcome what one imagines must have been fairly substantial obstacles to put together a collective video diary about life as a teenager in iraq . like mistresses , it was built around the tribulations and hopes of four friends . unlike mistresses , its storyline was governed not by a tick - list of stock narrative dilemmas and secrets but the cruel uncertainties that occupation and insurgency have brought to baghdad .
views the current war in iraq through the eyes of four iraqi teens as they enter their senior year of high school . filmed by the boys themselves , the documentary follows their friendships during the entire academic year and offers unique insight into ordinary adolescent iraqi lives .
johnny burke learned his craft at cinecontact productions under the guidance of renowned observational filmmakers such as sean mcallister and kim longinotto . johnny spent the next ten years editing documentary films for broadcast , including boys from baghdad high ( 2007 ) , the yes men fix the world ( 2009 ) . in 2009 he began to broaden his skills into producing , and directed his own short and mid - length films .
baghdad high is a documentary about four baghdad male youths entering their final year of high school . they have each been given cameras and asked to document their experiences . the year is 2006 , which was a grueling time for iraq . in october ' 06 , the month they began school , 2 , 722 iraqis were killed – most of them because of their ethnicity and / or religious backgrounds .
a new documentary from filmmaker laura winter , which premieres tuesday at the tribeca film festival , takes a look at life in baghdad through the eyes of four young men .
methods : a sample of 1858 male students , aged 13 to 19 years , was selected from 18 secondary schools for boys in baghdad . the arabic version of the international neuropsychiatric interview ptsd module ‘i’ ( m . i . n . i ) was adopted to assess the presence of ptsd symptoms .
449 . arctic monkeys , ' am ' ( 2013 ) domino . the boys from sheffield knocked out another raucous lp , with hip - hop laced stylisations in tracks such as ' why do you only call me when your high ' and back to grittyness with the noisey ' r u mine ' .
baghdad high covers a period of about one year , from fall to summer , the beginning and end of their final year of high school . it is separated by short intertitles giving bits of information , and the rest is narrated either visually or orally by the boys ' handheld digital cameras . the cameras , in fact , become a part of the boys ' personalities , as they need them as outlets for their ever - rising emotions and worries . the cameras aren ' t just objects – they are us , the viewers to whom they are speaking . the teenagers are fully aware of their audience and are eager for us to both see and get to know them .
frantic parents of rescued thai cave boys have not been told which children have been saved – as teammates . . .
qasim muhammad saleh , 45 , walking with his two sons , sajad , 5 , and jowid , 12 , had just come from voting at lebanon high school . the boys were carrying iraqi flags , and mr . saleh ' s right index finger carried the ink marks showing he had cast his ballot .
students attend class in a high school for boys in baghdad april 15 , 2008 . violence , a collapse of school infrastructure and the mass displacement of both pupils and teachers have turned many of iraq ' s schools into fetid overcrowded ruins , jeopardising the futures of millions of children . ( reuters / ceerwan aziz ) april 22 , 2008
grant smiled from the back of the room .
that ' s my line ,
he said .
he stole that from me .
but over the past month , threatening letters began appearing in shiite neighborhoods across baghdad , residents said .
best podcast episodes ever : the 25 best from serial to the ricky gervais show .
malcolm x . shabazz football coach damon harrison talks to player michael reed away from the field during a game against orange high school in orange . shabazz won the game , 30 - 14 .
running back and team captain al - rasheed benton leads stretching drills at the shabazz high school athletic facility in newark .
a mural in the courtyard near the cafeteria shows school pride at shabazz high in newark . support for the athletics program is ingrained in the community .
the university of baghdad was established in 1956 thereby absorbing mustansiriya university that dates from the year 1233 , and is depicted here . it was seriously damaged during military occupations and by rioting students in 2007 , from which trauma it is still recovering .
baghdad ,
said cyrus harbin , grant ' s best friend , the football team ' s defensive coordinator and a permanent substitute teacher assigned to the discipline office .
year one was baghdad .
469 . the beach boys , ' holland ' ( 1973 ) brother / reprise . the sound of east coast america ripples through this album of classic beach boys sound . the album is centered around a trilogy saga of california themed songs , and credits the band irresistibility to the world of music .
the boys filmed themselves , and like boys anywhere , they honed in on the inconsequential : learning the lyrics of an internet download , playing football , whether you can conceal the mouse in your bedroom from a mother determined to exterminate it . the mortal realities of baghdad kept interrupting though - the lights suddenly going out or a burst of gunfire rattling in the night - and even the boys ' banter was stained by recent history :
if chemical ali really wanted to destroy the north , all he had to do was fire a rocket with mohamed ' s socks in them ,
said a boy teasing his friend .
and go back to where you came from will continue to explore australia’s changing views of asylum seekers , taking participants to war - torn countries syria and baghdad .
the women’s balcony this comedy from israel concerns the actual and physical fallout after a synagogue balcony where women are separated from men buckles during a bar mitzvah .
there you go , a genuine open invite to come and see a day in the life of baghdad .
in those days , i tried to understand the doctrine that everyone suffers from something different and that degrees of suffering are relative to one ' s own surroundings . this belief is supposed to allow an individual to both forgive and forget his suffering . baghdad high , however , does not allow one to forgive or forget . that ' s not because the film offers an overly violent and traumatic look at the teenagers ' lives ; in fact , it ' s because baghdad high does the very opposite . it shows a background of unrelenting violence while the boys ' continue living their lives . that approach makes whatever muddy waters we run through seem like clear spring streams .
iraqi boys sit next to concrete house ' s fence which was hit by a projectile during a us military raid in baghdad ' s sabaa ' qusur area . ( afp / wissam al - okaili ) march 13 , 2008
iraqi boys sit next to concrete house ' s fence which was hit by a projectile during a us military raid in baghdad ' s sabaa ' qusur area . ( afp / wissam al - okaili ) march 12 , 2008
but the 17 - year - old boys are a tight group of friends - regardless of their different religious , ethnic and economic backgrounds .
young boys have always been preyed on by adults , the same way young girls have been . it ' s called
pedophilia
.
ukrainian news from the national television company of ukraine in kyiv , no subtitles .
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final four thai cave boys and coach are in ' good health ' but must remain trapped underground for at least . . .
somewhere in the reality space between the latest news of horrific suicide bombings in baghdad and the theatrical release last week of the slick , nonfiction high school movie american teen lies the hbo documentary baghdad high , airing monday . in 2006 , four iraqi teens were given cameras so they could record their senior year , after which producer - directors ivan o’mahoney and laura winter oversaw the shaping of the hundreds of hours of footage into a finished film . that this quartet of baghdad boys are from different ethno - religious backgrounds — shia , sunni , kurdish and christian — is a tantalizing setup , until you quickly realize that these labels don’t appear to affect their easygoing friendship with each other , their love of western icons like beckham and britney , or make much difference when , as one kid points out , anyone venturing onto the streets of baghdad could become the victim of a stray bullet or a roadside bomb or a kidnapping .
neary : we ' re talking about the documentary
baghdad high .
if you ' ve any questions about what life is like for a teenager in baghdad , any questions for the filmmaker , give us a call . the number here in washington is 800 - 989 - 8255 . and our email address is talk @ npr . org .
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a group of gay iraqis in baghdad , who feared being identified , said they faced daily harassment .
the four friends chat excitedly in the schoolyard at tariq bin ziad high school for boys . they have a lot to talk about : girls , britney spears , who has the best ripped jeans and who’s hair is the spikiest or is a disaster . it seems pretty normal , but it isn’t .
dubai : four indian boys in dubai , who recently won international accolades in different fields , were honoured by their school on tuesday .
a policeman places barb wires to barricade a road in baghdad april 9 , 2008 . the fifth anniversary of the fall of baghdad was marked with a curfew and continuing violence . ( reuters / mohammed ameen ) april 09 , 2008
from left , will ferrell , amy poehler and jason mantzoukas in “the house . ”
the son of a photojournalist , qamar took inspiration from his father and began taking photos of u . s . troops from his window at the tender age of four .
letters from baghdad nicole kidman just played the british adventurer gertrude bell , known to many as the female lawrence of arabia , in a biopic from werner herzog . now bell is the subject of a documentary that draws on century - old footage and bell’s own letters . tilda swinton narrates .
the fact that the kids are all from different backgrounds , and yet remained friends as their city was torn to bits by sectarian violence , was one of the most satisfying parts of making baghdad high ,
states laura winter .
it filled us with great hope for iraq ' s future - and maybe ours , too .
an iraqi girl enjoys a slide in the zawraa park in central baghdad , iraq , friday , jan . 25 , 2008 . baghdad remains under curfew every friday . ( ap photo / khalid mohammed ) january 26 , 2008
the dancing boys of afghanistan exposes the horrific practice called bacha bazi , in which young afghan boys are sold to warlords and powerful businessmen to be trained as dancers who perform for male audiences in women ' s clothing and are then used and traded for sex . the practice is sadly making a comeback in that country .
so with no support from the west , murad and emin need all the help they can get .
there is a need to bring experts from abroad to train secondary teachers , because the local trainers have been isolated from international developments and are in need for modernizing .
they drink , they eat , they gossip , leave a nice tip for the waiter then they leave for the next baghdad hotspot .
fear has rippled across socially liberal niches of baghdad , from the basement - level clothing shops where teenage boys buy skull pendants and skater gear , to upscale hair salons and theaters . advocates say some emo youths and gay men have left for northern iraq , while others have shorn off hairdos or muted outfits that were once badges of identity .
baghdad high provides a clear window from our living rooms into the homes and classrooms of those struggling to survive a war - torn baghdad . during its most personal moments , the film’s “home video” style allows the boys to share their dreams and tragedies directly with the audience without interference . rarely does an american audience have such unfettered access into the true , everyday lives of iraqis . by the end , this touching documentary makes a powerful social comment on the value of war and the burden it places on common people , leaving the audience to reconsider the utility of war as an option in settling conflict . ultimately these four iraqi teens have taken a crucial step toward closing the gap between “us” and “them . ”
children attend the celebration of arab orphan day , which falls during the first week of april , in an orphanage in baghdad april 6 , 2008 . the celebration was sponsored by the red crescent organization in baghdad . ( reuters / mahmoud raouf mahmoud ) april 06 , 2008
a iraqi union demonstrator displays posters during a march in baghdad april 12 , 2008 demanding the withdrawal of u . s . soldiers from iraq . ( reuters / mahmoud raouf mahmoud ) april 12 , 2008
he had started playing football at john f . kennedy high and realized it was an acceptable excuse in his neighborhood for staying off the streets .
by the time ali departs for the north , nearly a quarter of his school ' s 600 students and their families have fled baghdad .
news via satellite from nepal television in kathmandu , in nepali , no subtitles .
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news via satellite from abs - cbn manila , in tagalog , no subtitles .
jenny brockie takes a look at why people are suffering from more food insecurities .
this juxtaposition – between the foreign and the familiar – forms the heart of the documentary that has its american première at the tribeca film festival in new york this week . unlike the flood of iraq - related films spilling into the marketplace ,
baghdad high
does not take the long view . it is filmed close - up , in jittery autobiographical asides and teary confessionals , by four boys – a christian , a kurd , a shiite , and a sunni – trapped in a war zone .
the true story of a young girl in hawaii who dreams of leading the boys - only hula group at her school , and a teacher who empowers her through traditional culture .
who knew ? the 2002 hbo movie live from baghdad chronicled cnn’s groundbreaking coverage . the film focused on producer robert wiener , played by michael keaton . robert wisdom ( best known as major “bunny” colvin on the wire ) portrayed shaw .
his experiences during the filming , he said , which took him to baghdad , caused “a 180 back flip” in his attitudes .
paul chan , ‘online footnotes to the video baghdad in no particular order : marquis de sade and depleted uranium’ , available at urltoken ( last accessed on 24 june 2012 ) . the website was created by chan in 2003 after his trip to baghdad . ↑
the target population was adolescent boys that were collected from secondary schools . central organization for statistics ( 2010 - 2011 ) recorded a total of 5 , 472 secondary schools in iraq with 1 , 953 , 766 enrolled students . in the same academic year , baghdad governorate had 1 , 074 secondary schools , 436 for female students , 532 for males and 106 mixed gender schools . the total number of secondary school students in baghdad was 543 , 450 , including 243 , 670 girls and 299 , 780 boys [ 17 ] . the city of baghdad is divided by tigris river into two major parts ; russafa to the east and karkh to the west . each part has three educational directorates . a simple random sampling technique was adopted for this study through choosing three secondary schools ( for boys ) from each directorate . the researchers considered including different residential sectors to insure the inclusion of different socio economic strata ( elite , public , and suburban ) to make the sample more representative and to avoid confounding the results by the socio economic status . consequently , nine schools from each side of baghdad city ( forming a total of 18 secondary schools ) were included . secondary schools in iraq usually include six grades and the students’ spectrum of age is between 13 - 18 years . three classes ( using a simple random sampling technique ) were chosen from each school ( first , third and fifth grades ) to include a wide spectrum that represent the targeted age group . all the students in the chosen classes were included in the study yielding a total sample of 1858 boys out of 9100 students enrolled in these schools .
newark — the buses were quiet and dark as they rolled home toward newark ' s south ward . inside , rows of bruised , muddy football players from malcolm x shabazz high school said nothing . the only sounds were sniffles and muffled crying .
if you have questions about what life is like for a teen in baghdad , give us a call . our number here in washington is 800 - 989 - 8255 , and our email address is talk @ npr . org . and you can comment on our blog at urltoken laura winter is co - director of
baghdad high
and she joins us now from our bureau in new york city . good to have you with us , laura .
the boys meet in school , and then retire to their homes , where they can often hear the crackle of gunfire or smell the acrid smoke that follows a bombing . the cameras are rarely turned off .
an iraqi vendor fries falafel at a market in central baghdad . ( afp / sabah arar ) april 02 , 2008
ivan o’mahoney and laura winter ‘s “ baghdad high ” follows the lives of ordinary iraqis during the war . screening in the world documentary competition at the 2008 tribeca film festival , o’mahoney and winter gave four iraqi high school seniors a digital camera to record a year in the lives . the result is a film that shows how remarkably similar these teenagers’ lives are compared to those in the western world . indiewire talked to both filmmakers about the film and their expectations for its north american premiere at tribeca .
now less , buy more , read less , talk more”… are these the makings of a boy and girl from baghdad ? according to 35 year old istanbulite ayşe , they can be summed up by these eight words .
news via satellite from public broadcaster mrt in skopje , in macedonian , no subtitles .
news from sri lanka rupavahini corporation colombo sri lanka , in sinhalese , no subtitles .
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baghdad refugee children in a school that their families occupied after leaving their homes due to the ongoing raids by us and iraqi forces into baghdad ' s shiite enclave of sadr city . ( afp / file / ahmad al - rubaye ) april 10 , 2008
in order to encourage young iraqis to get down to the serious business of creating a better future , we adopted a novel approach : help them play . the program at zahra’s school pairs life skills with movement and sport , and is now in 30 baghdad schools , 15 for boys and 15 for girls .
rick continues his journey from the basque country on the atlantic coast , to journey ever eastwards towards the mediterranean sampling local food along the way .
grant hurt for his players , for the school and for the community . the playoff loss at carteret high stung , but this was a lost opportunity in a much bigger fight — the fight for shabazz , a long - shot crusade he and others have taken on to save one of the worst high schools in the country — and to do it starting with sports .
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iraqi girls play in the snow in sulaimaniyah , 160 miles northeast of baghdad , iraq on friday , jan . 11 , 2008 . further south , baghdad residents saw snow for the first time in memory on friday . ( ap photo / yahya ahmed ) january 12 , 2008
a young iraqi boy is treated for wounds in hospital in the shiite enclave of sadr city , baghdad , monday , april 14 , 2008 . the child was injured in ongoing clashes in baghdad ' s sadr city . ( ap photo / karim kadim ) april 14 , 2008
currently filming in sydney , the murder mystery will co - star rectify actor aden young , and reunites dimitriades with his heartbreak high cast mate , salvatore coco .
our study revealed a high prevalence of ptsd among eldest sons in the families ; this may indicate higher psychological demands and responsibilities on the eldest boys that may lead to a high probability of trauma exposure . children and adolescents in iraq usually do not work during school time ; one of the major negative consequences of long - term wars and conflicts is that they lead to severe deprivation and increased poverty rates among iraqi families . young boys have been forced to work exposing them to high risk environment and trauma [ 16 , 29 ] . this is consistent with the current study where there was a higher rate of ptsd among the working group . there is a linear association between ptsd and working during school courses . however surprisingly ; the odds ratio calculation in the current study shows that working during school time is associated with less ptsd . although this seems to be contradictive but it has an intrinsic logic : working boys are more exposed to risks but those who are severely affected by ptsd will possibly not be able to continue working .
name : nichole powers class of : 2004 now living in : holiday fl date : monday , august 30 , 2004 comments : hey everyone , well i didn’t know how hard leaving high school would be for me . but so far in my life the best feeling in the world was walking across that stage . i really miss gulf high but i am in college now and well nothing is the same . if any underclassmen read this i am telling you now make the best of high school .
and ali , i wanted to ask you this , and laura , you can also join in and help him out with this if you like . one thing that was very intenerating is that the boys - you boys seemed to use the camera as a diary , as a way to talk about your feelings about what was going on . is that true ?
follow the journey of three talented young indigenous football players from the red dust ovals of central australia to the hallowed turf of the new adelaide oval .
four teenage boys keep a video diary of their final year at tariq bin ziad high school in baghdad . as violence escalates , they prepare to take the national exams they must pass in june to secure their diploma . amid explosions , gunfire , and power outages , they study , wrestle , play games , listen to music , dance , and talk boy talk . will they pass their exams ? will they live ? bbc this world , and hbo .
over time , when the turkish republic was established , wealthy istanbulites morphed the area with their summerhouses . sadly today it seems the surrounding baghdad area is mutating further into a cluster of high - rise apartment blocks . the ottoman mansions and elite low - level summerhouses are almost all gone and it seems soon they will also be forgotten .
alex dimitriades revisits his heartbreak high years and teams up with aden young for a new drama and geoffrey rush explores his past in sbs’s 2015 lineup .
he is just eight year ' s old but already qamar hashim is far from ordinary .
neary : we are talking with laura winters . she ' s a co - director of
baghdad high ,
which is an hbo documentary , and you are listening to talk of the nation from npr news . i couldn ' t help wondering , laura , as i was watching that , how much editing did you have to do ? how much film did you get ?
abdullah monther ( r ) , 13 years old , stands next to the owner at a shop where they fix and sell vehicle exhaust pipes in arbil , 220 miles north of baghdad , march 1 , 2008 . abdullah , an arabic shi ' ite resident , dropped out from school to work to support his family after they were displaced from their home in baghdad due to sectarian violence in 2006 . ( reuters / ceerwan aziz ) march 4 , 2008
neary : now , what was this experience like for you ? when you boys all got the cameras , you all seemed a little giddy with the power that the camera was giving to you to take pictures .
says ali , one of the boys featured in the film :
the media can ' t show everything that ' s happening [ in iraq ] because there are so many deaths , too many explosions .
moments later , however , away from her hosts , ms . moore stops to reflect into the camera .
on sunday , the iraqi police told the associated press that a suicide bomb attack in western baghdad killed one policeman and wounded several people at a security checkpoint .
a good step by the government indeed . there are lots of other countries from where the imports can h . . .
desus and mero is an american television late - night talk show series hosted by desus nice and the kid mero , aka the bodega boys , who give their takes on politics , sports and entertainment .
quite sad indeed but this practice is quite common in many countries not in shape of dancing boys but similar to it . the biggest problem for this horrible crime is the money , secondly the education and thirdly culture .
during that 2010 - 11 nightmare , the school ' s fire alarm was pulled 119 times and students hurled textbooks from the windows for fun . the school was ranked at or near the bottom in several academic ratings , and only 19 percent of the students were proficient in math , according to high school proficiency assessment testing .
for the conference , two boys involved in the fight — one a shabazz student and the other a student at a newark charter school — sat with their mothers and younger siblings . the mothers cried as they urged their kids to end the disagreement .
an iraqi man sells oranges as a us soldier patrols an area in baghdad . ( afp / jewel samad ) january 16 , 2008
but what can be fake about someone who is fitted with massimo dutti and michael kors ? deniz says the lifestyle and fashion is genuine if you are from this street . if you move to baghdad from the outer suburbs she believes the art of imitation is a sham . she tells me , “fashion is having your own style and this style is being followed by the others . ”
baghdad , iraq , sunday , jan . 30 - iraqis began casting ballots sunday morning in the country ' s first free elections in more than 50 years , and scattered insurgent attacks began soon after , including a car bombing that killed at least one police officer in western baghdad .
in the tribeca catalog , tff artistic director peter scarlet writes that “with moving intimacy , ‘baghdad high’ affords an unprecedented glimpse into the lives of ordinary iraqis attempting to lead ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances… the kids of [ the film ] open us up to a very different sense of life in iraq than what we’ve been seeing on the nightly news for five years . ”
the ministry said its social police would be sent to investigate “the emo” and added that its forces had also received the authority to go into all of baghdad’s schools to find them .
an iraqi woman shouts slogans demanding the withdrawal of u . s . troops from iraq during a demonstration organized by the independent federation of iraqi trade unions downtown baghdad , saturday , april 12 , 2008 . ( ap photo / hadi mizban ) april 12 , 2008
baghdad high combines the video diaries of four iraqi teen boys during their 2006 - 07 senior year in the violence - fraught capital . the boys are religiously diverse “sons of mesopotamia” who look to pass their national exams while u . s . helicopters patrol overhead , power outages persist , checkpoints must be negotiated every morning , and nighttime walks to a neighbor’s house are a mortal risk . putting the trials of mtv reality - show prima donnas in perspective , the middle - class quartet will be relatable to this bbc / hbo production’s audience in their easy embrace of western kid stuff ( dopey cellphone videos , britney and 2pac as bedroom accompaniment for koran study , “fuck ! ” as an interjection in arabic sentences ) and dealings with generational tensions ( the frustration and anxiety of anguished parents grappling with financial and political hardship and the option of abandoning baghdad , as a quarter of the school’s students do by midyear ) .
from left , jill , vera and thomas sung in “abacus : small enough to jail . ”
beautiful accident in a comedy from china , a lawyer ( gwei lun - mei ) awakes from a car accident to find herself living a life not taken : she’s a housewife and mother .
accessibility concerns ? email us at accessibility @ urltoken . we would love to hear from you .
killing ground in a thriller from australia , a camping couple encounter an empty tent and a child wandering without his parents . from the trailer , it looks as if they stumbled onto a crime in progress .
a group of 30 volunteers has collected more than 1 , 200 dead bodies from beneath of the rubble of the destroyed city .
there were two main limitations in the current study : first , conducting researches by itself is a risk to the lives of researchers in baghdad , the un - favorite security condition narrows the choices of sample selection making it difficult to choose a house to house method in data collection so we shifted to the secondary schools to collect the targeted age group from there , second ; it is extremely sensitive in iraq ( at the present era ) to survey adolescent girls for such an issue , that’s why the study was limited to boys only .
when cnn anchor bernard shaw flew to iraq to interview saddam hussein , he didn’t intend to make history as a war correspondent . shaw—along with reporters peter arnett and john holliman and producer robert wiener—was in a hotel awaiting a call from hussein’s reps when the deadline for u . n . sanctions passed . war was imminent and the u . s . was going to bomb baghdad . the first tv cable news journalists to cover a war in real time , they broadcast from their hotel room . cnn’s ratings soared and audiences rooted for the “boys of baghdad , ” even as shaw , off - air , feared for his life . as he told viewers at one point , “this feels like we’re in the center of hell . ”
if you watch the documentary you ' ll see that these boys are also killed when they get to be too old to be interesting ( around age 16 ) . also , the families often sell them willingly .
in a country were woman are hidden behind the berqua , young boys take their place , dancing for men as female substitutes . . . a life of sexual slavery and even murdered .
at the arabiya school in the karada district of central baghdad , plastic ballot boxes already had scores of large , folded ballots stacked inside just an hour after voting began .
neary : yeah . now , i know that you are living in the united states now . have you stayed in touch with your friends in baghdad ?