Transatlantic Film Forum: The Boys from Baghdad High

18:00, 13 Feb 2008
RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET

Link to map: multimap

About the event:

It’s back to school time. A group of Iraqi boys are returning to their classroom for their last year in high school in the world’s most dangerous city - Baghdad. The four friends are Christian, Kurdish, Shia and Sunni. Will their friendship survive the sectarian violence ripping their city apart? Will they see their 18th birthdays or even graduate? The boys have the cameras. The Boys From Baghdad High is their story.

Oftentimes working on issues such as the war in Iraq causes one to remove themselves from the human dimension of the actual conflict. The defence analyst, the interested parliamentarian, the student of international relations can all too easily get caught up in strategy, tactics, the global and regional implications of the conflict.

With this in mind, the Transatlantic Security Programme is pleased to invite you to the first Transatlantic Film Forum for a viewing of the new documentary The Boys from Baghdad High which recently aired on the BBC. This film does not take a position on the war - it simply shows the war through the eyes of the innocent.  We hope that you can join us for a viewing of the film and a discussion with Laura Winter, one of the documentaries producer-directors.

The Boys From Baghdad High will air on HBO this Spring and on ARTE next month.

Reviews:

Variety wrote, 'this is history writ on a small personal scale, away from the frontlines, but in its own small way, it says more about the tragedy of Iraq than pumped-up fakumentaries like Brian De Palma's "Redacted."

The Times reviewer called “The Boys From Baghdad High,” “Terrific.”

In the Scotsman the reviewer wrote, "I won't get this terrific film out of my head for a good while."

The reviewer at the Radio Times wrote, “We could do with more films like this.”
 
The British Press Association called it, "the most memorable film of recent times."

Laura Winter
Laura has worked as a freelance producer for CNN, for CBS 60 Minutes and CBS Evening News in the U.S., Iraq and Afghanistan. In Kabul she was the radio correspondent for CBS News. Laura has filed stories and shot photos in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Christian Science Monitor, the New York Daily News and other newspapers and magazines. In Iraq Laura covered the fall of Baghdad, the rise of the insurgency in the capital and Faluja, the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Tikrit, and mass graves in al Hilla and abu Ghraib. In Afghanistan she reported on the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora, the revival of the Taliban and the country’s first presidential and parliamentary elections. Laura has also worked as a newspaper reporter in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Hong Kong.

Film Showing at 1800-1930
Discussion 1930-2000

Event manager: Jennifer Walker, +44 (0)20 7747 2643