Click on the picture above to see the first three webisodes!
Click on this picture to hear the song!
“Hometown Baghdad” premieres March 19th on Salon.com in the first stage of a launch across multiple distribution outlets.
Watching these clips is an incredibly powerful experience. As I watch the videos from Hometown Baghdad, I sense the possibilities for making the world a better place expanding as the video progress bar moves along.
A new window has opened onto Iraq – a view not seen in the media coverage, up to this point that, “has focused on the politicians, the troops, the insurgents or the religious fanatics.” As I watch the story in these Hometown Baghdad videos unfold – ordinary Iraqis in their homes, schools and places of work – I feel a personal connection to these brave people trying to make the best of appalling circumstances and get on with their lives. Also, I feel optimism. Seeing Iraq in a new way like this may lead to discovering new paths to peace. Thank you, Chat The Planet for giving us this opportunity.
Web 2.0, and the rapidly evolving multidimensional environments of Web 3D (exemplified by virtual worlds like Second Life) may provide a new way for us, as global citizens, to realize even our most lofty aspirations for positive global development. As we get to know each other, and make relationships beyond the fairly limited range of identities and opportunities for connection available in our day to daily lives, (and offered in conventional “push†media), a new understanding and era of cooperation and collaboration can emerge across cultural divides. Hometown Baghdad is a ground breaking example of how this will happen. And, please, don’t forget in the new digital democracy viewers are distributors. All of us can play a part in telling the untold story of the Iraq War.
Please, make the connection and spread the word!
You can see the press release for the fascinating story behind this innovative co-production with a group of Iraqi filmmakers in Baghdad. Here is a short excerpt:
“The people profiled in ‘Hometown Baghdad’ are not the usual figures that dominate the media’s coverage of the Iraq war: They are young, smart ambitious Iraqis struggling with everyday concerns in the middle of a deadly war.†The approximately 35 “webisodes” that range from one to three minutes long, tell “the stories of three young Iraqis who are struggling to survive in the most dangerous city in the world. Saif is a 23-year-old recent college grad with dreams of becoming a dentist. Adel is an aspiring rock musician whose hopes of forming a band are continually dashed by the violence and tragedy surrounding him. And Ausama is a 20-year-old med student whose family is repeatedly threatened and endangered by both American and insurgent forces.”
Technorati Tags: Baghdad, Documentary, Iraq, iraqi, media, video, vlog, war, web, series, SecondLife, Web2.0, Web3.0
March 19th, 2007 at 1:55 am
Great video. It shows the better side of Iraq and how they’re not really all that different from the rest of the world. The best part in my opinion, is that it shows how people hold on to their dreams and keep working towards their goals in the midst of all the insanity around them. Good job!
March 27th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Nice article on a great project. It may be old, but I’m going to type something up, and link back here.
Rex