[Nettime-nl] World Premiere screening NICE BOMBS Opens Chicago Underground Film Festival

[mailinglist@cuff.org]

Hello friends,

The 13th Chicago Underground Film Festival is just around the corner
(August 17-24th at the Music Box Theatre). We’re currently
updating our website and the complete festival schedule will be
available there very soon. But we wanted to let you all know about
the great WORLD PREMIERE screening we have slated for opening night.

The 2006 Chicago Underground Film Festival Kicks Off with the World
Premiere of the documentary feature‘ NICE BOMBS’ by
Chicago based filmmaker Usama Alshaibi’. The film is
Usama’s personal story documenting his return to Baghdad to
reunite with his family after nearly 24 years. In January 2004,
shortly after becoming an American citizen, Usama journeyed with his
wife Kristie from Chicago to Baghdad where he was reunited with
family members, friends and former neighbors in an Iraq much
different than the country of his childhood. Inspired by writer Studs
Terkel and Internet diarist Salaam Pax, he explores with humor and
resilience the culture, customs and complex politics of Iraqis in a
post-Saddam era. All the while, the United States occupation remains
a constant presence in the background. Capturing the conflicting
reactions to the conditions of life in Baghdad. Through a wide range
of opinions and experiences he provides a broad panorama of voices
long neglected under Saddam’s regime.

“The sound of a ground-shaking explosion awoke my wife and I
from a deep sleep. It was about 7:00 in the morning. My cousin Tareef
entered the bedroom to find a tie for work. “What was
that?” I asked. “It was a bomb. A nice bomb.” The
phrase was indicative of my family’s nonchalance about their
situation. I had been away for twenty-four years. They were used to
it. As one young boy put it, “We’re Iraqis. It’s
normal.”

My Arabic is weak so I spoke to my relatives in English, both on and
off camera. I was surprised that, despite the language barrier, their
meaning clearly broke through. I thought that most Iraqis would be
reluctant to speak openly. It had been rumored that Saddam executed
people for simply making jokes about him and they were accustomed to
holding their tongues. The opposite was true. Everyone wanted to
speak, and they wanted Americans to hear them.

I left in 1980 in the midst of a war between Iraq and Iran. I was
eleven years old and terrified of dying. The current war gave me an
opportunity to return and revisit my birthplace and my family, and to
explore a culture in which I feel both rooted and uprooted. I was
frightened, but I felt that I had to go and see what TV and
newspapers could not convey. I brought my camera along to document
the experience.” – Usama Alshaibi

Following Nice Bombs please join us for our opening night party at
Schubas (3159 N Southport) with musical guests Bobby Conn and the
Glass Gypsies, Roommate and DJ Hunter Hussar

To purchase tickets for the film and after party go here:
http://www.ticketweb.com/user/?region=chicago&query=detail&event=683347
 
Or if you just want tickets for the film:
http://www.ticketweb.com/user/?region=chicago&query=detail&event=682928

The complete festival schedule will be posted soon at
http://www.cuff.org
 
Thanks we hope to see you at the festival!



--
If you do not want to receive any more newsletters, 
http://www.cuff.org/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=8de033daa01bc84d45cac07272b9bb4e

To update your preferences and to unsubscribe visit
http://www.cuff.org/lists/?p=preferences&uid=8de033daa01bc84d45cac07272b9bb4e



--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --


______________________________________________________
* Verspreid via nettime-nl. Commercieel gebruik niet
* toegestaan zonder toestemming. <nettime-nl> is een
* open en ongemodereerde mailinglist over net-kritiek.
* Meer info, archief & anderstalige edities:
* http://www.nettime.org/.
* Contact: Menno Grootveld (rabotnik@xs4all.nl).