Baghdad High
The HBO documentary Baghdad High features four high school seniors who videotaped a year of their lives during the Iraq war. The film was featured at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.
The documentary premiered on television on August 4, 2008.
Fast Facts
- Producers/directors: Ivan O'Mahoney and Laura Winter
- Network: HBO
- Initial air date: Monday, August 4, 2008, at 9/8c
- Rating: TV-14 (adult content, adult language)
- Run time: 82 minutes
- Starring: Ali Shadman, Anmar Refat, Hayder Khalid and Mohammad Ra'ed
- AKA: The Boys From Baghdad High
- Filming began in 2006
Baghdad High Synopsis
Four seniors at Tariq bin-Ziad High School videotaped their daily lives in war-torn Iraq. The young men in the project were carefully chosen by their headmaster. Because of the danger to the students involved, their families agreed to keep the filming a secret.
Producer Ivan O'Mahoney Quotes
"When you're going to have cameras around four boys for an entire year, it's going to draw attention to them. So we decided that we would train them and see if they could do it themselves, to keep it as low-profile as possible. Even having an Iraqi crew around would draw too much attention. But if they're walking around with tiny little cameras, they could just tell people that they were doing a school project."
"One moment they're singing along to Britney Spears, the next moment there's a massive explosion outside, and they're talking about whether or not they can even go to school the next morning."
Categories
