Filmmaker goes behind the headlines
October 30, 2008
By Jackie Saffir/Daily News correspondent
GHS
WALTHAM —
The struggles of Iraqi refugees displaced by war and sectarian violence will hit close to home Monday during a screening of a new documentary.
Award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will present her film, “Iraq: The Lost Generation,” at the Landmark Embassy Cinema on Pine Street.
Obaid-Chinoy, a graduate of Smith College and native of Pakistan, has received several international honors, including an Overseas Press Club Award and American Women in Radio and Film Award.
Her documentaries cover a wide range of issues and places, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Indonesia. She hopes that this film will allow Americans to see stories she says are not covered by the mainstream press.
“‘The Lost Generation’ came about because, for a long time, I had been hearing about what had been happening in Iraq, but rarely did I get a picture of who the Iraqis were,” she said. “I always thought Iraqis were just numbers I read about in headlines. But who were the people behind those numbers? What were their lives like? What were their families like?”
In addition to trying to answer these questions, Obaid-Chinoy said her film will allow viewers to see a part of the world many Americans have never seen before.
The event is sponsored by Primary Source, a Watertown nonprofit with the goal of improving students’ understanding of the world by educating their teachers.
Julie Newport, the Primary Source director of communications, says the event was planned to “connect the general public with stories about world history and culture that are not told very often.” She hopes that this will give the community the opportunity to talk to someone who has been to that part of the world and met Iraqi refugees.
Following the film, Primary Source will be hosting a reception at Solea on Moody Street, to allow for casual discussion over tapas and sangria and provide an opportunity to meet the director.
Obaid-Chinoy hopes viewers will see that Iraqis are not different than Americans.
“I would like people to see Iraqis as people with families and lives that are similar to ours,” she said. “I’d like to humanize their problems.
“Iraqis are just like you and I, but the war has torn the social fabric of that society. It will impact a young generation that may never recover.”
The event will be held Monday, Nov. 3, 6:30 p.m., at Landmark Embassy Cinema of Waltham. The movie is 50 minutes. Tickets cost $15 for the film and $40 for the film and reception and must be purchased in advance online at http://primarysource.kintera.org/iraqfilm.