IndieWIRE has a great interview up with the directors of Baghdad High. Ivan O’Mahoney and Laura Winter’s film follows the lives of high school students in Iraq - O’Mahoney and Winter actually gave students small digital cameras so they could document their lives - pretty cool!
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.
What was the inspiration for “Baghdad High?”
We both had worked in Iraq and were looking to avoid yet another Iraq film told through the eyes of soldiers, religious leaders and warlords. The idea was that if you want to do something about the future of Iraq, you should talk to the future…i.e. go straight to its teenagers. Everyone can sympathize with the troubles and triumphs of being a teenager. It’s just that these teens happened to be growing into men in a war zone. [indieWIRE]
The Canadian premiere of Sacha Gervasi’s “Anvil! The Story of Anvil.” started off the 15th annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival:
If you’re eagerly awaiting Errol Morris’ latest film Standard Operating Procedure (I am!) and are in the San Francisco and NYC area you’ll want to take note that he’ll be at an Apple store near you:
Katie:
Nicole: 
Giulia:
Gina: 
Kerry:
Nigerian filmmaker Newton I. Aduaka presents a chilling dramatization of the almost incomprehensible plight of a child soldier, Ezra, who has been conscripted into one of Sierra Leone’s rebel armies. Though not overly graphic, the dehumanizing acts of kidnapping, rape, and sanctioned murders depicted in the film weave a terrifying portrait of the painful journey from child to killer as Sierra Leone’s youth are repeatedly exploited for political purposes, and used as pawns in local conflicts for the benefit of warlords and war profiteers. 
Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure, the first documentary to be shown in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, has won the festival’s Silver Bear (second place). 
